Barricade
by IlliterateKoi
Summary: After the Carnival Natsuki thought that life would be easy. How wrong could she have been, there was nothing easy about being in love, especially when life seemed to be setting up road blocks at every turn. ShizNat.
1. Normality

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own them, but I do have some nice little figures of some of them sitting on my desk :)

**AN:** OK, so this is my first Mai HiME fic… I'm currently waiting for several of my favourite ShizNat fics to be updated, so I figured I would give it a go myself while I'm waiting :) So obviously it's going to be ShizNat and there is going to be a lot of NaoNat friendship… Anyways here's chapter 1, hope you like it…

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><p><span>Barricade<span>

Chapter 1: Normality

'_Monday is an awful way to spend 1/7 of your life'_

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><p>It had been several months since the HiME festival had ended and the graduation of the current third year high school students was a few days away. Fuuka Academy had been mostly rebuilt and the 12 ex-HiME's had returned to normal life as much as they could.<p>

Mai and Mikoto had maintained the pet and owner relationship, much to Tate's annoyance, as he seldom managed to get close to the red head without the younger girl trying to bite him. Shiho still clung to her 'onee-chan's' arm, but her overall resilience towards Mai had faded significantly.

Yukino was, as always, at Haruka's side in the school council room, correcting her bad use of vocabulary from time to time. Midori had disappeared shortly after the end of the Carnival, saying something about a grand adventure with some professor she knew. Akane and Kazuya were just as 'lovey dovey' as ever, much to the disgust of the others.

Nao and Natsuki had quickly reverted back to their delinquent ways, but rather than skipping classes and sitting alone, they tended to sit together. The teasing and annoying comments were still tossed between them though, something both parties were thankful for.

And Shizuru seemed to be exactly the same as before, she would sit in the school council room sipping her tea, listening to Haruka rant on about various things and waiting for lunch to start, when Natsuki would come and see her. The schools present, but not for much longer, Kaichou was currently staring out of the window, scanning over the crowds outside, her eyes searching for a certain blue haired girl.

It was five minutes before first lesson, and even though the Kyoto born beauty knew that the biker would still be in bed, she continued looking for her. Her crimson eyes easily found Mai and Mikoto merging with the crowds flooding onto the school grounds. Soon after she spotted them, her eyes fell on another red headed girl, Yuuki Nao. Although Nao didn't attend most of her lessons she did spend most of her day on the school grounds, Shizuru suspected that the younger girl had been woken by her roommate and had been unable to regain sleep. The girl she was looking for however never made her appearance and Shizuru pulled herself away from the window and headed for her first lesson, she would see Natsuki later after all.

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><p>Nao separated herself from the crowd of students as they rushed towards the school building so as not to be too late. Her head was throbbing mercilessly and she closed her eyes tightly as she stopped to lean against a nearby tree. '<em>Damn you Kuga! This is all your fault! Just you wait, when I get my hands on you…<em>'

"Drink too much last night?" The sound of a very smug Kuga Natsuki in the morning was not what Nao wanted to hear. The red head ignored the pain in her head and stood up straight, a triumphant gin on her face,

"Ha! You wish! I could drink you under the table any day!" Nao paused and a confused expression fell over her features. She turned her head to the side slightly and looked at the taller girl, then at the clock on her cell phone. "Um… Its only first lesson…"

"Yeah, I know" Natsuki said while sliding down the tree Nao had been leaning on and sitting on the grass below it.

"But, you're in, and it isn't lunch yet" The younger girl pointed out, thinking that Natsuki just wasn't getting her point. The blue haired girl laughed a little,

"I know, it killed me getting up this early" This was a lie. She hadn't slept at all. And Nao seemed to know that she was lying. However, instead of commenting on it, the red head simply sat down next to the other girl and offered her a cigarette from her packet.

This exchange wouldn't have happened a few months ago when the pair couldn't even stand to be in the same room as each other, but now it was an everyday occurrence. Nao had taken what Natsuki had said about them being similar to heart. After all, she had watched Natsuki turn from the resident ice queen, to the not so icy person she was now.

Shizuru had been a huge influence on the younger girl, but with the addition of Mai and the others, Natsuki had become much less cold and revenge driven. Natsuki had taken it upon herself to be the friend that Nao needed, even though neither of them would ever admit it.

"Giz' your lighter" Nao demanded while holding her cig between her lips. The blue hair girl smirked at her and took her time sparking up, before throwing the lighter at the younger girl. Smoke rose into the almost summer air and quickly disappeared.

The two girls had sat under the tree for ten more minutes as they smoked silently, but they were now wandering round the school grounds, well aware that if they stayed in the same place for too long they would get caught.

They walked at a slow pace around the school building, until they spotted a member of the dreaded teaching staff. The man, who appeared to be in his mid 20's blinked at them before breaking out into a run. The girls burst into a sprint, unable to conceal their exited, adrenaline filled squeals.

Natsuki managed to get ahead of Nao and began scanning the surrounding area for somewhere they could hide. Unfortunately for them, the teacher pursuing them was a gym teacher, and therefore had actually managed to keep up with them.

Nao looked around desperately searching for either a hiding spot or a route to safety. She soon spotted an open window and without really thinking things through, launched herself at it. But as luck would have it, just as she got her head trough it, she felt Natsuki tugging on her uniform and pulling her out of the occupied classroom, only to try to dive in herself,

"Hey! Kuga! What the fuck! Move!" She growled at the older girl (who ignored her) before turning to see that the teacher was almost upon them " Aaahhhh! He's coming! Hurry up!" Nao instantly stopped trying to pull the other girl out of the window and instead shoved her inside.

"Aaahhh! Oof" Natsuki landed unceremoniously on someone's desk, shortly followed by Nao who was flailing her arms everywhere

"Haha! Kuga get up you dog! Hurry up!" The students in the classroom just blinked at them, not believing that two girls had just climbed into the classroom, because...well, _who did that?_

"You two! Get out of my classroom! What do you think you are doing!" The teacher at the front of the classroom screamed, obviously not happy with the two new additions to the class.

Natsuki and Nao had burst into a fit of giggles as they ran out of the room, leaving the entire class howling with laughter. The pair continued running down the corridors until they came to the door that lead to the roof, the thought that students weren't allowed up there barely even registered in their minds as they walked up the stairs, opened the door and sat down on the roof, their legs hanging off the edge. They simply sat and regained their breath for a while, both smiling to themselves.

"Well, that was entertaining" Nao was the first to speak, she then turned to Natsuki and thumped her in the arm.

Even though the older girl had no idea why her arm had just received such abuse, she just smirked at the other girl, stood up and raised her own fists.

"That was for pulling me out of the window" Nao clarified with a smirk of her own, getting to her feet with the other girl and readying herself for a fistfight.

The first time they had done this it had actually been caused by a real argument, though neither of them could remember what it had been about. It had been just after the end of the Carnival, so things were still...tense. Now though they mainly just had these 'fights' for fun, or to pass the time. Although, they did sometimes get a little bit _too_ into it, which generally meant that one of them would end up getting a bruise or two. This time however, they were both simply messing around.

It was Natsuki who swung first, aiming for and hitting the younger girl's upper arm. Nao immediately lashed out with her own arm, aiming for Natsuki's ribs, but the older girl moved backwards out of reach before sidestepping and hitting the younger girl's ribs with her own fist. The punch wasn't flying at full speed, but it was by no means a soft punch.

Nao made a small 'oof' noise before spinning round and catching Natsuki in the arm.

"Gotta do better than that sponge brain" The blue haired girl smirked as her right arm throbbed slightly from the hit.

Nao gritted her teeth slightly, but her smirk was still present. She then lunged foreword and her fist landed on Natsuki's collarbone, just as Natsuki's own fist landed on Nao's. Natsuki barely managed to duck under another flying fist that would have collided with her jaw,

"Hey, no head shots!" Whilst saying this though, Natsuki had aimed and missed Nao's cheek,

"Yeah right, like I would pass up the opportunity to maul your already ugly face"

They continued to trade blows, but after a while they started laughing, and as a result, their hits became weaker and weaker.

Natsuki threw her right arm out and watched as Nao sidestepped it, she then pulled on the younger girl's shirt with her other hand. They ended up on the floor, rolling around, both trying to pin the other and end the fight. It was Natsuki who eventually managed to pin her opponent's arms above her head whilst straddling her waist, staring into her eyes with triumph. The older girl was about to mock Nao for losing when she was interrupted,

"Ara, so this is why Natsuki doesn't like me in that way, I am too old for her" Natsuki and Nao both felt their eyes go wide and their faces turn red. Standing just in front of the door with an amused look on her face was none other than the school council's president, Fujino Shizuru.

"Sh-Shizuru! It's not… I'm not…ewww! Its Nao for god sake!" The two girls jumped away from each other as if burnt, disgusted looks on their faces.

"Fufufu. Kanin na Natsuki. It would seem I got the wrong idea" Shizuru laughed lightly.

Nao, who had by now recovered from her blushing, was glaring slightly at the Kyoto born, Natsuki quickly noticed this and gave her a death glare. Nao held her arms in front of her in mock surrender,

"Alright, alright, I'll leave the snake alone" She smirked and made her way towards the door, "later" She called over her shoulder just before she disappeared into the school building.

Silence washed over the rooftop as the metal door closed behind Nao, leaving the two old friends alone.

"It's a little too early for Natsuki to be up is it not?" Shizuru smiled as Natsuki resumed her earlier position of sitting on the edge of the roof, both of them ignoring the fact that Nao still refused to call Shizuru by name.

"I couldn't sleep so I figured I would just get up" feeling the older girls presence directly behind her Natsuki decided to lean back against Shizuru's legs. Although more than mildly shocked at the contact Natsuki had initiated, the Kyoto girl didn't show it,

"Why couldn't Natsuki sleep?" she looked at the back of the younger girls head with slight concern in her crimson eyes,

"I was thinking about things that's all" She turned her head so she could see Shizuru in the corner of her eye and smiled, "Shouldn't you been in class, Kaichou-sama?" At this, Shizuru moved backwards so that Natsuki couldn't lean on her anymore, "Hey, come back" The blue haired girl laughed lightly. Instead of returning to her former position, Shizuru sat next to her friend.

"I saw two students running away from a teacher, I came to investigate as the head of the school council" She gave a knowing smile in Natsuki's direction. A small smile also made its way onto Natsuki's face as she remembered the incident.

"So, what were you thinking about?" Shizuru didn't look at Natsuki as she asked; she knew that the other girl was more likely to tell her if she wasn't being studied.

Natsuki considered lying about what had been on her mind, or just not answering at all. But when she turned her head to look at the Kyoto beauty, she decided to just tell her the truth.

"…" or she tried to anyway, '_Damn it! It's just one word! Come on you coward!_' Shizuru had now turned to look at her, and green eyes locked with red ones. Bracing herself for the teasing she knew would come Natsuki said what she had been thinking about, "You" A look of confusion flashed across the older girls face,

"Why was Natsuki thinking about me?" Shizuru would have teased the younger girl if it hadn't been for the serious look on her face. Natsuki looked away and instead focused on a couple of birds that were flying around a nearby tree,

"I was thinking about, um…" she paused and suppressed a blush '_oh for god's sake!_' "… Your feelings for me…" She paused again and then said in a quieter voice "and mine for you" Shizuru's eyes widened. '_Natsuki was thinking about her feelings for me? Does this mean that she has decided she doesn't like me anymore? Does she want to end our friendship?_' The brunettes heart picked up its pace dramatically, she couldn't handle that. She couldn't bare it if Natsuki didn't want her to be part of her life anymore.

Of course, sensing the subtle change in Shizuru's mood, Natsuki again did something that shocked the older girl. It also made Shizuru realise exactly what Natsuki had meant.

The younger girls hand had been placed over hers, and remained there, even as a blush settled onto Natsuki's cheeks. '_Natsuki had been thinking about her feelings for me. But she does not want to end our friendship, so…that means she is thinking about changing our relationship?_' Forcing herself to remain calm and not get herself excited Shizuru looked at Natsuki's flushed face,

"Natsuki…" It was merely a whisper but Natsuki had heard it, the blue haired girl didn't look at Shizuru but her hand tightened around the older girls. From this, Shizuru deduced that Natsuki needed time to think about things and smiled at her.

She could be patient; she'd already been waiting for years, what difference would a little longer make? After sitting there for about 5 minutes in a comfortable silence, Natsuki stood up and brushed away any dirt that may have been on her skirt. She then spoke without looking at Shizuru,

"You should go back to class"

"Ara, is Natsuki trying to get rid of me?" Shizuru laced her words with sadness and feigned a hurt expression. This got Natsuki to look at her, panic on her face,

"NO! no, it's just that, you know… it's your last few days… so I thought, you might want to spend time with people… I'm not trying to get rid of you" Throughout the rambling apology Shizuru had maintained her hurt expression, but once Natsuki stopped speaking, she chuckled lightly behind her hand

"Natsuki is so cute when she is flustered"

"Sh-Shizuru!" Natsuki yelled at the older girl as she realised she had been tricked...again.

Shizuru just continued smiling until the chime signalling the end of first lesson reached their ears.

"Well, I suppose I should go to my second lesson, and so should Natsuki"

"Yes, yes" Natsuki laughed lightly, whilst walking Shizuru to her lesson, glaring at everyone who tried to approach.

"I'll see you at lunch" That said Natsuki left Shizuru at the class room and made her way out of the building.

However, when she was just about to step out, someone grabbed her blazer collar from behind,

"Kuga Natsuki. Going somewhere?" She turned her head to see who had dared to grab her, ready to tear their arm off and beat them over the head with the soggy end.

She pulled out of the grip and stared wide-eyed, stood in front of her was the teacher who had been chasing her and Nao earlier. He quickly grabbed her blazer again and dragged her down the hall and into a classroom, despite Natsuki's efforts to thwart him,

"Here you go Koji-sensei" Natsuki made her way to her seat, promptly ignoring everyone's surprised stares.

"Well, it's nice to see you Kuga-san, please take a seat" Natsuki ignored the teacher's surprised/smug face and slouched in her seat. She briefly wondered what lesson she had just been dumped in, but quickly decided she didn't care and switched her thoughts to something else. Something much more interesting and thought provoking than any lesson Natsuki had ever had the misfortune to sit through. Something in the shape of a certain Kyoto born beauty.

Just like the night before, her thoughts drifted to the relationship they shared. She had convinced herself that the love she had for the older girl was more than just normal friendly love, but she didn't know how much more.

Having spent the majority of her life distancing herself from people Natsuki had never been in a romantic relationship, nor had she wanted to be in one. She had labelled such things as pointless and time wasting; after all she had more important things to be doing, such as avenging her mother's death.

But maybe they weren't as pointless as she had thought. Mai didn't seem to think they were pointless, and more importantly, neither did Shizuru. The problem was that Natsuki had no idea what kind of love her love for Shizuru was. She had compared it to how she felt about Mai, but she had known Shizuru much longer than she had known the red head, so it was obvious she would be closer to the older girl.

She shook her head. How was she supposed to work out how she felt? '_OK, so, Shizuru is…in love with me…_' even just thinking the words caused a blush to spread across the blue haired girls cheeks, and she quickly plopped her head into her arms on the desk to hide that fact '_but what is different…_' Then she realised what it was, and she felt like slapping herself in the face because it was so obvious '_Sexual attraction. Shizuru is sexually attracted to me…_' Natsuki felt like her face was going to explode with the amount of red blood cells she knew had just rushed to her cheeks. '_OK…so now that I know the difference… am I attracted to Shizuru… I mean, obviously I know that she's pretty…more than pretty, she's beautiful. But, do I want to… gah! I need to stop thinking about this… at least until I get home_'

Because she had been so focused on her thoughts, Natsuki had failed to notice that the teacher was no longer talking to the class... that was until she got a sharp stab in the back by the person sitting behind her.

"Hey! What the he…" She stopped mid sentence when she noticed Koji-Sensei, and the rest of the class looking at her, "What?"

"I asked you a question Kuga-san" He smiled while pointing at the board, on which were some words written in English. "What does this sentence mean?" Natsuki raked her brains for the answer, but it evaded her,

"Um…" She was about to say 'I have no idea' when she heard the person behind her whisper the answer,

"Please can you tell me where the train station is" She repeated the answer and got a nod and a smile from her teacher, who then turned back to the board and starting talking again.

"Thanks" Natsuki turned round and thanked the boy sat behind her, she hadn't noticed him before, and wasn't planning on talking to him again after the lesson, but she felt the need to at least be polite, after all, he had helped her out. The boy smiled broadly at her and she turned back round. She spent the remainder of the lesson staring blankly at the board with her head propped up by her arm.

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><p>Natsuki stretched her arms above her head, causing several of the bones in her arms and back to crack. She gave a content sigh and then got up from her desk to leave the classroom. '<em>thank god that's over<em>'

The 17 year old then swiftly made her way towards the school council room, where she was greeted by a rather large group of students, all of whom seemed transfixed on the door in front of them. Natsuki forced her way through the crowd refraining from yelling at the people around her and opened the door.

"I love you Shizuru onee-sama!"

"I'd do anything for you!"

"Please marry me!"

Natsuki slammed the door behind her, her eye twitching in annoyance.

"Is something wrong Natsuki?" Shizuru smiled at the younger girl, her amusement at Natsuki's annoyance evident in her voice.

"Damn fan girls" the blue haired girl muttered under her breath before moving forward and leaning against Shizuru's desk.

The smell of Shizuru's tea filled her nostrils and she couldn't help but smile slightly. Although she wasn't particularly fond of tea herself, it reminded her of the older girl and always brought a smile to her face. Shizuru watched the girl in front of her, while sipping her tea, she caught the distinct smell of smoke and frowned. She had been noticing it more recently, and was not happy about it. Not one bit,

"Natsuki shouldn't smoke, it is bad for your health" She stated in a slightly scolding tone. Natsuki turned to face the older girl, so that one of her legs was up on the desk, she considered lying and telling Shizuru that she hadn't been smoking, but quickly decided against it, the other girl would see right through her lie anyway. Instead she decided to change the subject,

"You wanna go into town after school?" Shizuru looked at her for a few seconds; she was surprised that the girl had suggested that, usually it was Shizuru who suggested they do something outside of school. Of course, she had realised that the younger girl had just swiftly changed the topic of their conversation but she could pick that up some other time,

"Of course, you know that I'd never turn down the chance to sit behind Natsuki on her bike" She smiled sweetly and Natsuki simply raised her eyebrow, far too used to Shizuru's 'strange' comments to react too much to them,

"Right, well I'll meet you here after school then, I told Mai that I'd meet her for lunch"

"Ara, does Natsuki not like eating lunch with me?" Shizuru pouted,

"Actually, I was gunna ask you to come with me?" although it was supposed to be a statement, it came out as more of a question.

Even though the festival had been over for a few months now, Shizuru hadn't really spent any time with Mai and the others, there was still a lot of tension in the air between them, especially between Nao and Shizuru.

Natsuki hated that she was stuck in-between it all, but mostly, she just wanted Shizuru to feel comfortable and to stop feeling guilty about what had happened. She figured that the best way to do that was to simply bite the bullet and confront the issue. Shizuru however seemed to think differently and therefore had been avoiding the other HiME like the plague.

Shizuru actually appeared to consider the question posed to her, but the second Natsuki saw the polite smile spread across her friends face she knew that the older girl wouldn't be joining her.

"I'm sorry Natsuki, I've got work to finish off, I'll see you later though" Shizuru saw the quick flash of disappointment on her best friends face but could nothing about it. She just couldn't bring her self to spend time with other HiME, it brought back to many horrible memories. Natsuki nodded at her answer before standing up and speaking,

"Yeah, see ya" That said Natsuki left the room and headed to the place she had agreed to meet Mai.

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><p>Mai looked up from her spot under a tree and spotted her hot-tempered, mayonnaise-loving friend. Natsuki quickly sat down next to Mai, her back leaning against the tree. She didn't speak, nor did she really acknowledge her friends presence.<p>

Mikoto was happily eating her lunch, provided by the red head, and hadn't even noticed the arrival of the other girl. Mai looked at Natsuki, who seemed to have zoned out. She had noticed that recently, the older girl had been acting differently. She hadn't really been contributing at all to any conversations, no matter what they were about. She would just sit in the background and stare off into the distance.

Mai had also noticed that the other girl hadn't been eating at school, this was something that worried her and she had therefore prepared a lunch for the dark haired female.

"Natsuki, here" she handed the bento box over, "I noticed that you hadn't been eating so I made this for you, I added extra mayonnaise" She smiled, but Natsuki just looked at her friend, as if noticing that she was there for the first time.

"Erm thanks. But I'm not hungry" She nodded in Mikoto's direction "I'm sure your pet will eat it" Mai tilted her head, even though Natsuki was trying to sound normal, and had forced a small smile to her face, her eyes had remained dull and sad. 'OK, she just turned down mayonnaise' little alarms started ringing in Mai's head; something was wrong with Natsuki.

She looked at her friends face more carefully than she had done earlier, her skin was pale and there were faint dark rings under her emerald eyes, indicating lack of sleep. Her eyes were downcast and her head was leaning on her arms, which had pulled her knees up to her chest.

So, Mai had realised that something was wrong with the ice princess. Now all she needed to do was figure out what it was. The first and only thing that sprang to mind was Shizuru. While Mai liked to think she was one of the blue haired girls close friends, she knew that she wasn't as important to her as Shizuru was.

She doubted that Natsuki even realised how much her face lit up when she was around the Kyoto born girl. Although she hadn't spent much time in the company of the third year student she knew that something was going on between her and Natsuki, it had to be.

Even before she had really known Natsuki she had suspected that something was going on between the two, she had even mentioned to Natsuki that she thought she wasn't interested in guys. Of course, Natsuki had told her not to be so stupid; after all, she didn't have time for that type of thing.

"Natsuki?" Mai waited for the girl to look at her before continuing, "Is everything ok?"

"Huh? Yeah, everything's fine, why?" Natsuki looked confused, why would Mai think that something was wrong? No she wasn't feeling great at the moment, she was confused as hell and only had a few days to figure things out, but she wasn't acting differently...was she?

"It's just...I don't know, you seem quiet...well, quieter than usual. Plus, you look like tired"

"Well, yeah, I'm a bit tired, but other than that, nothing's wrong" She tried to smile as convincingly as she could, but Mai gave her a worried look which told her that she had failed. Fortunately though, the red head seemed to understand that the biker didn't want to talk about what was bothering her. They lapsed into silence and for some reason Natsuki felt the need to break it,

"How's things with you and Tate anyway?" Natsuki wasn't particularly interested in how the relationship was going in all honestly, but she figured that it was only polite to ask.

"They're ok I guess... we haven't really seen much of each other recently, we've been pretty busy with exams, but he should be coming to the graduation party I'm throwing so I guess we'll take it from there" Mai smiled brightly,

"Graduation party? For who?" Natsuki asked. As far as she knew, Mai and the other first years didn't really talk to any of the third years... except maybe Reito on occasion.

"Anyone that wants to come, I mean, we're all graduation in a way, to the next year haha" The busty girl paused for a second before speaking again "You should definitely bring Kaichou-san, unless she's already got plans" Mai figured that since Shizuru was so popular throughout the school she would probably already be going somewhere, which would no doubt mean that Natsuki wouldn't be coming to her party either. Whether the blunette would admit to it or not, she would defiantly want to spend graduation day with Shizuru. To her surprise Natsuki smiled at her, a genuine smile,

"That sounds great Mai, I'll ask Shizuru about it later. As far as I know she's not doing anything else"

"Great!" Mai practically beamed, she couldn't wait to get Natsuki singing karaoke again "while we're on the subject of graduation, have you got Shizuru anything yet?"

"Eh? What for?" Natsuki asked, confusion written all over her face,

"For graduation you dolt! Really Natsuki, you're hopeless"

"I'm meant to buy her something for graduating?" Natsuki eyes went wide, what in the hell was she meant to get the older girl! The only thing she could think of was tea, and surly Shizuru did not need any more of the stuff.

"Well, you don't _have _to, but most people do give their close friends graduation presents. And since you and Shizuru are, you know...close, you should really get her something" Mai laughed as a light blush spread across Natsuki face at the mention of her closeness to the Kyoto girl.

"Well what am I supposed to get her! Urgh" Natsuki flopped onto her back, her eyes now staring up into the cloudless sky _'Great, something else to worry about!'_

"You're the one that knows her best, I'm sure you'll find something" Just as Mai finished her sentence the chime signalling the end of lunch sounded and she got to her feet.

"See you later" The red head then walked off to go to her next lesson, Mikoto following behind her. Natsuki simply stayed where she was, '_what am I gunna do?'_

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><p><strong>AN:<strong> OK, well, there you go, chapter one, hope it wasn't too bad, and that there weren't too many mistakes in there, I read it over several times but I probably still missed some things :P I know that I just sort of...mentioned Mikoto being there but didn't actually have her do or say anything... That's because I have a hard time writing for her D: I also feel like pointing out that I haven't actually posted anything on here for several years...so I'm not really comfortable with the way things work anymore haha So, sorry if this chapter is a bit messed up or difficult to read, just let me know so I can do something about it next chapter :)

Feel free to drop me a review so I know that people actually want me to continue writing, I promise it will get more exciting and the chapters will be longer :P Annnnndddd obviously there will be more ShizNat interaction in following chapters...this was just a sort of...introduction I guess XD

Also (on a completely random note) I find it slightly amusing that Microsoft Word tries to correct 'Shizuru' with 'seizure' haha Anyway, thanks for reading, I'll probably be updating this once a week, providing life doesn't get in the way :P Thanks for reading and hope to see you next time.

~IlliterateKoi~


	2. Past

**DISCLAIMER:** Don't own them, just borrowing them, they will be returned safely once I'm done :)

**AN:** First things first; Thank you to everyone that reviewed, I replied to everyone (I think XD) except the anonymous review (Thank you Lane :) ) And thanks to those of you who added this to your favourites/alerts. You guys are awesome :D

Now we can get to chapter 2 :D Enjoy.

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><p>Barricade<p>

Chapter 2: Past

_"In real lofe, love has to be possible. Even if it is not returned right away, love can only survive when the hope exists that you will be able to win over the person you desire"_

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><p>Shizuru waited silently in the school council room for the object of her affections. She knew that Natsuki had been thinking about their relationship, after all, she had told her outright this morning. However, even with this information Shizuru forced herself not to get too excited; since it was completely possible that Natsuki would decide to keep things as they were so as not to ruin their friendship.<p>

Shizuru had resigned herself to this fate a long time ago, she had never intended for the younger girl to find out about her feelings. Although she was tired of being stuck as just Natsuki's best friend, there was nothing she could do about it.

She had however decided that if she was ever going to get over the younger girl, she would need to stop seeing her so often. Once she left school that would be easy, since she would no longer be on the same campus as the 17 year old. The thought of not seeing Natsuki everyday didn't sit very well with her, but she knew it was something that had to be done, she couldn't carry on as she was.

Every time she looked at the blunette, or locked eyes with those beautiful green orbs she felt a mix of fondness and pain. Pain that she would never be loved as she wished to be, that she would never be able to hold the girl she loved so desperately. The girl who she would move heaven and earth for, just to see that beautiful smile grace her features.

She had applied to both Fuuka University and Kyoto University. The examinations for both universities were rather difficult, but she had aced them both. She had received her acceptance letter from Kyoto University the day before and the one from Fuuka University had come a week ago. This meant that the choice was completely hers.

She had already decided that she would be going to Kyoto if they accepted her...but now she wasn't so sure that she wanted to. The only reason she had been planning to go there was because it would put a reasonable amount of distance between her and Natsuki... now though, with the blunette giving her hope, she was unsure that this was what she wanted to do. Perhaps going to Fuuka would be the better choice. It would mean that she was only 20 minutes or so away from the younger girl.

She was well aware that she couldn't carry on with the way things were. After all, it was only a matter of time before Natsuki fell in love with some _boy. _If she were around to see that happen she had no doubts that she would end up losing her grip with reality. That thought scared her in all honesty. One of the main reasons she didn't want to stick around was because she _knew _what was bound to happen. If the Carnival was anything to go by she was quite capable of going completely insane and going on a murderous rampage.

The reminder of what she had done during the Carnival was definitely _not _welcome. She was trying to forget about it. She hadn't been herself. She had been controlled, just like everyone else. She had been used as a tool by the Obsidian Lord to wreak havoc and cause suffering. She wasn't to blame.

Repeating this over in her mind did nothing to make her feel better though...she had, after all been the one to perform those acts of violence...she could have fought against it had her will been strong enough...

"Oi, Shizuru!" Shizuru's eyes locked onto emerald ones, and confusion swamped her for a moment, though she quickly recovered,

"Ara, I must have gotten lost in thought, how long has Natsuki been here?" She plastered what she thought was a fairly convincing smile on her face as she looked at the younger girl, who just raised an eyebrow at her,

"Not long" Natsuki regarded her with slightly worried eyes "are you ok? You don't usually zone out like that" This was, of course, not true. Shizuru did a lot of 'zoning out' especially when thinking about the girl stood before her. However since her thoughts had been...on the darker side of things she decided to cover it up by falling back into her usual behaviour, which meant teasing,

"Is Natsuki worried about me? Perhaps I am ill and she will take upon herself to look after me"

"You wish" Natsuki smirked, seemingly believing that Shizuru was fine. The older girl was slightly surprised that her best friend hadn't denied being worried, nor had she even blushed at being accused of such a thing! She was unable to respond to this with the appropriate pout however since the younger girl spoke,

"You done here? Wanna get going?" Although Shizuru was not done with her work she decided that she would rather spend some time with her favourite blunette. If, as she had originally planned, she was going to distance herself from the younger girl after her graduation, she could at least make the most of their remaining time together.

"Yes, we can go"

* * *

><p>They quickly made their way to the small clearing that concealed Natsuki's bike. This was one of the highlights of riding the motorbike with the younger girl for Shizuru. Natsuki changed into her leathers quickly, pulling the one piece suit up under her skirt before ridding herself of the fabric.<p>

Then came Shizuru's favourite bit, Natsuki pulled her arms out of her hoodie to pull the suit up her torso and put her arms through the sleeves before pulling the rest of the hoodie over her head (1). Shizuru liked this because no matter how many times Natsuki had done this, her hoodie always rode up somewhat, revealing her toned stomach and sometimes the bottom part of her bra. Despite feeling somewhat like a perverted old man Shizuru just could not look away, not that she was trying to anymore. She had long since decided that such a thing was doomed to fail and that she would therefore not bother to even attempt looking away anymore.

Natsuki knew that Shizuru had been watching her; she always did. As such, her face gained a slightly pink tinge, which she covered up by literally throwing her helmet at the older girl and jumping on her bike. She soon felt Shizuru's slender but strong arms wrap around her waist and started up the bike before taking off in the direction of Shizuru's apartment.

Shizuru wasn't particularly fond of the vehicle Natsuki often referred to as her baby, she especially wasn't fond of the way her friend rode the motorbike. '_too fast, although I'm sure Natsuki will say not fast enough'_ There were however, perks to riding the contraption, for example, she got to hold on to Natsuki and when it wasn't her turn to wear the helmet, she could listen to the younger girls heartbeat by resting her head on the girls back. Shizuru felt the bike come to a stop but didn't make any attempt to get off. Instead she stayed attached to Natsuki's waist, enjoying the contact far too much to let go,

"Erm, Shizuru? Were here, you can let go now" Natsuki spoke with a raised eyebrow, not that the older girl could see it,

"I know I'm just enjoying hugging my Natsuki" Shizuru smiled widely and rubbed her head on Natsuki back to emphasize her point.

"Shi-Shizuru! Come on! Let's go!" That said Natsuki practically threw herself off her bike and out of Shizuru's grasp, a mild blush on her cheeks,

"Natsuki ikezu" Shizuru pouted before realising that Natsuki couldn't see it due to the helmet she was wearing. She removed the headgear and got off the bike, being careful to keep her skirt from riding up and revealing more than it should. She then walked after Natsuki, who was stood at the front door of her apartment complex.

The building wasn't too far from the school grounds and the apartment itself was just large enough to suit Shizuru's needs. As soon as Shizuru opened the door for her apartment Natsuki walked in and flopped over the back of the sofa. This meant that her feet were hanging over the back of it with her head hanging off the seating part of the furniture. Shizuru smiled lightly and shook her head at the girl's behaviour before moving to her bedroom to get changed, she left the door to her room open though so she could still talk to the other girl,

"What do you want to go into town for anyway?" Shizuru's voice was slightly muffled both by the distance and also by the fact that she was changing, but Natsuki picked it up easily,

"I just wanted to do a bit of shopping, my favourite jeans ripped so I need some new ones" The blunette replied, her eyes closed... her thoughts from earlier in the day came back and she suddenly found herself very aware of the fact that Shizuru was probably semi naked just a few feet away. Luckily before she could think on it anymore the Kyoto born spoke up again,

"Doesn't Natsuki usually wear ripped jeans anyway?" Shizuru laughed lightly and Natsuki chuckled,

"Yeah, I guess I do...but anyway, I want some new ones" While she really did want some new jeans, her main reason for tonight's outing was simply because she wanted to spend more time with Shizuru, though there was no way in hell that she would ever admit that.

She was well aware that in a month or so the older girl would be off to university, while she would be staying at Fuuka Gakuen. She suspected that the time they could spend together would be cut drastically, something she really didn't want. Besides, she'd heard the stories of friends leaving their younger friends behind to go to university, and slowly but surely they would stop seeing them all together. They would get new, more interesting friends that were the same age as they were. Not to mention, _boy_friends.

This thought made Natsuki frown, Shizuru would surely have fan boys and girls at university, who's to say that Shizuru wouldn't fall for one of them. Somebody her age, who liked the same things she did and well...reciprocated her feelings. Her frown deepened, she couldn't let that happen, she couldn't lose Shizuru to some random fanboy/girl! Not a chance!

"Ara, what could Natsuki be frowning so deeply about?" Natsuki's eyes shot open at this, Shizuru was standing directly in front of her, her image appearing upside down due to Natsuki's current position on the sofa. The older girl was wearing the simple attire of rather tight fitting jeans and a light brown coloured jacket...of course she was likely wearing something _under_ the jacket as well, but it was hidden from view.

"I'm ready when you are" Shizuru smiled as Natsuki literally rolled off the sofa and onto her feet. Natsuki looked at the older girl as she locked her front door, '_Why does she look so good in _everything _she wears? Those jeans are going to bring all her fan girls out!' _Shizuru noticed that Natsuki wasn't moving towards her bike, and turned to see the slightly irked look on her friends face, her emerald eyes focused on Shizuru's lower half,

"Natsuki?" The questioning way in which her name was said snapped the younger girl out of her thoughts,

"Huh? Oh, right yeah, let's go" Shizuru just smiled to herself, she was used to Natsuki's behaviour by now and simply allowed the girl to walk ahead to her Ducati. Since the older girl had worn the helmet before Natsuki was now the one to wear it.

This made Shizuru very happy, since it meant that she would get to listen to Natsuki's heartbeat. The bike roared to life and set off quickly. Natsuki loved riding her bike, feeling the wind in her hair, knowing that she was going faster than most other people. It was a thrill and an adrenaline rush that she found incredibly addictive. She spent most of her free time, when not being annoyed by/annoying Nao, just riding around on quiet bendy roads.

Natsuki tended to ride slower when she was with Shizuru, especially when the older girl wasn't wearing her helmet. She was confident enough in her ability, but she was also aware that even if you were _the _best driver/rider in the world, the people around you may well be complete idiots that had only passed their tests by some fluke. So, she was overly cautious when riding with Shizuru, but it didn't make the ride any less fun.

Meanwhile behind her, Shizuru was smiling contently, Natsuki's heart was thudding happily in her ear and she had her arms wrapped tightly around the younger girl's waist. She started to stroke Natsuki's stomach through her leathers subconsciously, sighing happily to herself.

She may have been planning to move away but that didn't mean that she wouldn't enjoy the time she had left. Natsuki just had a way of making things seem so much better. Just being around the younger girl made her heart thump at an irregular pace and filled her stomach with butterflies.

Natsuki's brain had honed in on the moving hands immediately, they were definitely distracting. She shivered against the hands as they continued to stroke her stomach, this wasn't good, she needed to concentrate on her driving, especially since Shizuru wasn't wearing any protective clothing. When they stopped at a set of traffic lights Natsuki put a hand over Shizuru's. Although the feelings those hands were giving her were far from unpleasant she couldn't risk crashing and getting Shizuru hurt.

"Shizuru, don't while I'm driving" Shizuru's eyes went wide in shock, she hadn't even realised she had been doing it. But what shocked her more was the fact that Natsuki had not only responded to those movements, she hadn't seemed too bothered by them! Apart from the fact that she was being distracted from her driving anyway. Again the older girls stomach flipped and her heart beat pulsed in her ears, a small smile on her lips as she spoke, though she knew that Natsuki wouldn't hear her voice over the roar of the bikes engine,

"Kanin na"

* * *

><p>While Natsuki was securing her bike Shizuru looked around and spotted a small group of girls who she assumed belonged to her fan club, since they were currently swooning all over the place, knowing that this would annoy her friend she linked her arm through Natsuki's and dragged her into the nearest shop.<p>

"Oi! What's the rush!" Natsuki pulled her arm away from the older girls and then looked around the shop, she spotted a nice t-shirt in the men's section and was about to walk over to it when she felt Shizuru tug on her hand.

"Shi-Shizuru!" The blue haired girl looked around them to see if anyone was looking their way, but did not pull her hand away. Once she had finished her scan of the shop and confirmed that they were in fact, the only customers in there she looked at the older girl,

"Natsuki cannot keep wearing boys clothes, what's the point of having such a nice figure if you don't show it off" Shizuru smiled sweetly before tugging on the hand in hers, effectively pulling the younger girl along with her. Natsuki saw what she was being pulled towards and tried to pull her hand away, dread showing clearly on her face; dresses _'oh hell no! Damn Shizuru and her abnormally strong grip!' _As she tried desperately to free herself from her friends grip,Shizuru merely looked through the rack of dresses with her free hand, ignoring the tugging on her other arm,

"Hmm, Natsuki is saved, I don't like any of these" That said Natsuki visibly relaxed and stopped trying to get away from the other girl. However the second Shizuru loosened her grip, Natsuki retrieved her hand and sincerely wished she had a pocket to shove it in,

"I'm gunna go look at the jeans" Shizuru trailed behind her slightly shorter friend, until they found the selection of jeans. Natsuki quickly found a pair that she liked and was about to go try them on when Shizuru stopped her and handed her another pair. Natsuki raised an eyebrow at the Kyoto born as she took the offered denim.

"Try these on as well, I think they would look good on you" The mischievous glint swirling in those crimson eyes made Natsuki suspicious, she looked at the jeans, they seemed fairly normal, until she unfolded them and saw the flowery pattern sewn into one of the legs. Her eyes nearly fell out in disgust. She looked at Shizuru in utter despair,

"No, please don't make me" But it was too late, Shizuru had already placed an upset look on her face and even though Natsuki knew that the older girl was teasing her, she just could _not_ say no when Shizuru was like this.

"But, I picked them out specially, does Natsuki think I have a bad fashion sense?"

"Fiiiiine" Natsuki rolled her eyes, knowing that further complaints would be ignored. She turned and walked towards the dressing rooms, but when she felt Shizuru about to enter the stall with her she turned around and pointed a finger at her friend "You wait here" Shizuru laughed lightly behind her hand, all trace of her earlier 'sadness' gone from her expression.

Natsuki simply slipped the jeans she had picked on over her leathers, they were slightly baggy but not too much, just how she liked them, they also had rips in one of the knees another thing she liked. She kicked them off and picked up the pair Shizuru had given her to try on, her face twisted in disgust when she saw the flowers again,

"Erm, Shizuru?... Ahhh!" As soon as she uttered the older girls name she was standing in front her,

"Yes Na-tsu-ki, did you need some help?" The sweet smile on Shizuru's lips did nothing to calm Natsuki down, mostly because the crimson eyes looking into her own were filled with mischief and a hint of something else that Natsuki couldn't quite place.

"Shizuru! What are you...? Wait!" Natsuki had backed herself into a corner and was covering her chest with her arms, despite being fully clothed. All Shizuru had done was move forward slightly. Said girl was now chuckling softly behind her hand,

"Is Natsuki ok then? She doesn't need my help?"

"NO!" the blue haired girl shouted, a little louder than she had meant to, "I mean, erm, no thanks, I'm ok" she smiled sheepishly and literally shoved the still chuckling Shizuru out of the stall. She exhaled deeply before holding the dreadful jeans in front of her again, _'urgh, I hate you Shizuru' _She would have tried lying to the older girl and telling her that she had tried them on when really she hadn't, but Shizuru seemed to have a way of knowing when she was being lied to, it wouldn't be worth the hassle she would get for lying in the first place _'may as well just get it over with'_ Natsuki sighed and then slipped the jeans on over her leathers.

They wouldn't have been too bad if they hadn't had the floral pattern on them, in fact, Natsuki would have probably bought them. She closed her eyes and smiled to herself, _'but there's no way I'm ever going to buy ANYTHING with flowers on it' _that said she opened her eyes,

"Aahhh! Shizuru!" The aforementioned girl was now stood directly behind her, that mischievous glint still sparkling in her eyes, which were staring into Natsuki's through the mirror in front of the younger girl,

"These fit Natsuki very well" she moved closer "Especially here" her hands were now cupping the younger girls behind, much to said girls surprise. Natsuki immediately tried to get away from the offending hands, but only succeeded in trapping herself between the mirror and Shizuru.

"Shi-Shizuru! What are you doing!" her cheeks burned as a blush made its way across her face.

"I'm admiring these jeans" came the answer, which was whispered into her ear, the hot air making her shudder slightly. She felt the older girls hands move around to the front of the jeans, resting for a second on her denim clad thighs before trailing upwards to the waistband of the jeans.

The blue haired girl could feel as well as hear her heart beat raging in her ears as her lungs refused to work. Shizuru's hands were dangerously close to her crotch and yet she was doing nothing about it!

Those hands now traced along the waistband of the jeans slowly, the pressure barely making it through the skin tight leathers that covered the skin underneath. Natsuki _could _feel it though, and she felt like she was about to pass out.

Shizuru's hands disappeared as quickly as they had arrived however, along with the rest of the Kyoto born. Shizuru had left the stall, leaving a rather flustered and confused Kuga Natsuki.

The blunette could feel the heat coming from her face and took a few seconds to calm herself, remembering to breath and willing her face to return to its normal colour. She then scowled at the stall curtain, knowing that a certain friend of hers would be waiting on the other side of it _'Damn Shizuru and her incessant teasing!' _With another blush she realised that although Shizuru had done things like this before, it had felt slightly different this time around. Usually she would have pushed the older girl away, or at least tried to...this time she had made little attempt to get out of the situation.

Perhaps her reaction had been different because Shizuru hadn't done anything like this since before the Carnival. Now that she was aware of Shizuru's feelings she _had _been a little more cautious with her action towards the brunette. She didn't want to inadvertently hurt her most precious person by being an insensitive moron.

Or maybe she hadn't pulled away because she had enjoyed it. Her blush threatened to return at the thought.

But either way...letting Shizuru act like a perverted old man was certainly not a good idea. Next time (and there would be a next time she was sure) she would get out of the embarrassing situation as quickly as possible.

Decision made she removed the hideous jeans, grabbed the ones she wanted to buy and exited the stall, where she proceeded to throw the floral denim at her friend, who looked _far_ too amused for Natsuki's liking.

* * *

><p>10 minutes later after Natsuki had purchased her new jeans the pair exited the shop and continued to walk down the high street, occasionally going into shops, though neither of them bought anything.<p>

Natsuki refrained from visiting her favourite lingerie store; she'd had enough teasing for one day, there was no point in bringing more upon herself. She paid close attention to what Shizuru was looking at, trying to get an idea for the older girl's graduation present. This reminded her about what Mai had said earlier.

"Hey, Shizuru?" The older girl turned to face her, a smile playing on her lips,

"Yes, Natsuki?"

"Are you busy on the day you graduate?"

"Ara, does Natsuki have something special planned for us" Shizuru winked at the biker as she said this, causing a blush to erupt on the younger girls face,

"NO!" Natsuki calmed herself down before she continued, "Mai is having a party that night and she asked me to bring you, sooooo...?" Natsuki looked anywhere but at the older girl, who laughed lightly,

"Natsuki sounds like she is asking me to be her date"

"B-baka!" After waiting several seconds longer than was really necessary, the older girl decided to put Natsuki out of her discomfort by speaking,

"But, yes, I would love to accompany you to Tokiha-sans party" Shizuru smiled sweetly, even though Natsuki wasn't looking at her. She didn't really want to spend any time with Mai and the others, for the simple reason that she felt extremely uncomfortable around them. Especially where Nao and Yukino were concerned. But, she couldn't bring herself to say no to the request.

Unfortunately thinking even briefly about what had happened during the Carnival caused the guilt within her to rear its head. Even though all those people had since been revived it did not excuse her behaviour. She had murdered and maimed several people; nothing would ever make that OK.

"Shizuru?" Natsuki had noticed the sudden change in her friend the moment it had happened, Shizuru looked serious, and extremely guilty. And apparently she was in her own world, as she didn't make any indication that she had heard Natsuki say her name.

'_All those people, I didn't even know them, they could have been completely innocent...and some of them must have had families...and children'_

Shizuru had stopped walking, _'I'm a monster' _the older girl came out of her daze and regarded the worried face in front of her.

"Natsuki?" She sounded confused, and unsure of what was going on,

"Come on Shizuru, I'll take you home" Natsuki didn't smile, in fact, she frowned, she wanted to know what was troubling her best friend, although she already had a good idea what it was.

* * *

><p>Shizuru sipped her tea and continued to stare absentmindedly at the floor in front of her. Natsuki had brought her home and was now sat next to her fidgeting on the sofa trying to get comfy. The crimson eyed girl was trying to get herself to act normal, but that was proving rather difficult, especially since she knew that Natsuki would see right through any charade she put up. She heard said blunette sigh beside her and turned to face her,<p>

"Is something wrong Natsuki?" Natsuki looked at her and gave her a weak smile,

"You were thinking about the Carnival weren't you? While we were in town I mean. That's what was bothering you" It was said as a statement rather than a question but Shizuru felt compelled to answer anyway,

"Yes, I was, Kanin na for cutting our shopping trip short" She smiled politely, but Natsuki gave her a knowing look, she knew that Shizuru was trying to act as if nothing was really wrong.

"Shizuru. You don't have to hide when you're talking to me. If something's wrong, I want you to tell me about it" Shizuru studied the younger girl in front of her, Natsuki had certainly changed in the past few months, she seemed to now understand that friendships were important, and that she was allowed to show that she cared for people. Though Shizuru had a sneaking suspicion that she was the only one of Natsuki's friends to actually receive such treatment.

She hadn't really wanted to breach this topic; everything had been going so smoothly between the two of them since the Carnival ended. She had admittedly been extremely worried that things would be awkward between them, or that Natsuki would just not want to spend time with her anymore. She feared that talking about the elephant in the room would change that. That Natsuki would suddenly realise that she couldn't forgive her for doing the things she had done.

She looked into those deep emerald pools, trying to decipher what the younger girl was feeling. She saw concern, and nervousness as well as affection. This calmed her nerves slightly. She could talk to Natsuki about these things and the girl would not run away or hate her for it. So, she decided to be honest and say what was on her mind;

"Ookini, Natsuki. I...I was worrying about Yuuki-san mostly" Shizuru admitted. Although she did feel extremely guilty about what she had done to Yukino, it didn't compare to how she felt about what she had put Nao through, for the simple reason that the young red head was fast becoming one of Natsuki's closest friends. Every time Natsuki brought up the young red head in conversation it caused a surge of guilt and pain to rip through her.

"Nao?" Natsuki frowned slightly, she had been dreading this conversation; she was stuck in the middle of the two. Although her loyalty ultimately lay with Shizuru, she did not want to lose Nao as a friend and if it came to an ultimatum, that's defiantly what would happen.

"I keep thinking about what I did to her...every time I see Yuuki-san or if Natsuki mentions her..."

"Shizuru, stop beating yourself up over what happened. You can't change it, and besides, everything was reversed, Nao's mother is alive" Natsuki knew that no matter what she said, Shizuru would continue to feel guilty, probably for the rest of her life. It frustrated her that there was nothing she could do about it.

"That doesn't change what I did. Every time I am near Yuuki-san she..." The look of anguish that passed over Shizuru's features almost made Natsuki's heart stop. She suddenly felt angry at Nao,

"Look, I'll talk to Nao"

"I deserve her animosity"

"No. You don't. Nao had kidnapped me...twice, all you were doing was protecting me" Shizuru stared at the younger girl, who was looking at her with such a determined look that it left no room for argument. She strangely felt a little better, she wasn't sure if it was Natsuki's words or just the fact that the blunette cared so much about her. It was still a shock for her sometimes...realising that Natsuki did in fact care about her.

"Natsuki" The soft way in which her name had been said caused the aforementioned girl to blush, but she did not look away and instead smiled back softly. The air felt slightly less tense than it had done minutes ago, even though the conversation had reminded them both of other things that needing talking about.

Predominately what exactly had Yukino seen while the blunette had been under the Kyoto girls care? It was definitely something that they needed to talk about, even though Natsuki had forgiven her friend for everything that had occurred during the Carnival...part of her just needed to know what Shizuru had done.

That conversation could wait though; neither of them really had the courage to bring it up now anyway...and if they had wanted to the sound of Natsuki's cell phone ringing prevented it. After pulling the device from her pocket and glancing at the caller ID she answered the call,

"What?"

"_Gee Kuga, ever heard of manners?"_

"What do you want Yuuki?"

"_Why, am I interrupting something?_" Natsuki could practically hear the smirk she knew would be on Nao's face. "_Anyway, are you coming out tonight or what? There's a bunch of people meeting up in the park, I think Kaito will be there, and that other guy that..._" Natsuki half listened to what the red head was saying, droning on about various people she could not even remember. She turned her head to look at Shizuru, and almost jumped when she saw that the older girl was looking directly at her.

The Kyoto born had been watching Natsuki the entire time; she loved the way the bikers face twitched every now and then in response to something being said. She knew that her friend didn't like to be stared at, which really was a shame since it one of Shizuru's favourite things to do.

When she got caught staring, like now, she was usually rewarded with a cute blush. Not this time though. Shizuru stared into those beautiful pools of emerald which seemed to be asking '_Are you ok?_' She had been expecting the girl to look a bit bewildered or embarrassed...not worried. Perhaps the serious conversation they had just had was the cause.

Shizuru heard some yelling from the device in Natsuki's had, and chuckled a little as Natsuki winced and pulled the phone away from her ear slightly before returning it and yelling back,

"What the fuck Nao! Are you trying to make my ears bleed?"

"_You were fucking ignoring me you dog! Are you coming or not?" _Natsuki wasn't sure what she wanted to do...she kind of wanted to go out with the younger red head, she needed a distraction from all her thoughts about the girl sat next to her. But...she also wanted to spend more time with Shizuru, besides the older girl might want to talk more or something. Shizuru was her best friend, if she was needed here then here is where she would be,

"I can't I'm busy"

"_Busy doing what?" _there was a quick pause on the other end before Nao's deadpan voice was heard again "_Wait. You're with the Kyoto witch aren't you, I don't want to know what you're doing" _Natsuki scowled,

"Will you stop calling her that!" She then realised what Nao was insinuating she was _'busy' _with "And were not doing anything like that!" To her annoyance, both Nao _and _Shizuru laughed at this. In response Natsuki glared at one of them and put the phone down on the other.

"Ara ara, Natsuki is so rude, putting the phone down on Yuuki-san without saying goodbye"

"Shut up" Natsuki huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. After giving the younger girl a minute to recover Shizuru spoke up again,

"Is Natsuki going out with Yuuki-san?" She really hoped that the and answer would be no. Although she felt a lot better now, she wanted the biker to stick around for a while and keep her company.

"Er, no. I-I thought you might want...some company...or something" Natsuki shrugged, though she didn't look at her friend while speaking. Shizuru thought Natsuki was very cute when she acted like this. Natsuki showing that she cared never failed to wake up the butterflies in her stomach.

"Ookini Na-tsu-ki" The brunette smiled softly, "Well, how about I make us something to eat and we can watch a film?"

Natsuki agreed to this, glad that she had made the right decision of staying with Shizuru. The older girl could be just as bad as she was at telling people what she wanted sometimes. But the fact that Shizuru hadn't even given her the usual 'Natsuki doesn't have to stay with me' routine made it clear that the Kyoto born wanted her to stay.

* * *

><p>(1)– I'm assuming that you guys will know what I mean by this? I used to do it when getting changed for P.E at school...since obviously I didn't want anyone to see me half naked XD<p>

**AN:** ok...I'm sorry if this chapter seemed...a bit scattered lol I actually wrote the first chapter and this one a few years ago and have just sort of...changed them slightly this past week since I still wanted to use some things from the original and couldn't be bothered to write it up again :P

I'm hoping that the next chapter will be better, I'm actually itching to write some proper ShizNat scenes so we shall be getting to that shortly :)

Anyway, thanks for reading, let me know what you think, critique is welcome. Oh, and I'm sorry for any grammar/spelling mistakes you likely came across. Next chapter will be out shortly with any luck :D

~IlliterateKoi~


	3. Decision

**Disclaimer: **Still don't own them :(

**AN: **Thank you to everyone that took the time to review! I really appreciate it :D

This chapter was _a lot_ easier to write than the previous two, mainly because I didn't have to work with something I had written ages ago. The more I thought about the last chapter the more I hated it and I'm actually debating whether or not to completely re write it lol so now I'm just hoping that enough of you will continue reading after that fail of a chapter XD

Also, I realised that I completely forgot that Natsuki was staying at Mai's after her apartment was trashed in the anime. So I've tried to correct that in this chapter...I can't remember if I mentioned anything about where Natsuki was staying in the other 2 chapters XD so sorry if I confuse anybody XD

But anyway, here's chapter 3, enjoy :)

* * *

><p>Barricade<p>

Chapter 3: Decision

_"Never kiss a friend. If you have deeper feelings, never reveal them. You will lose that friend forever..."_

* * *

><p>Natsuki woke up the next day feeling rather stiff. She felt like she had slept with her neck bent at an awkward angle and her back didn't feel much better. She was also far too warm, being that summer was just around the corner this wasn't too surprising.<p>

She yawned loudly and wondered why neither Mai nor Mikoto had jumped on her yet shouting about her being late. After rubbing her forehead and kicking the sheets off her body she rolled over, planning on getting more sleep...instead she found that her bed had gotten smaller and as such, she was now on the floor,

"Damn it" She grumbled while rubbing her back. Laughter met her ears and she was about to snap at Mai to shut up...when she realised that the laughter wasn't Mai's. She opened her eyes and immediately realised _why _her 'bed' was smaller than usual. She had slept on a couch, not in her bed, and that couch belonged to one Fujino Shizuru.

"I was just about to come and wake you, but I see you have done that yourself" Shizuru's amused face peered at her from behind the couch, which was situated in the centre of the room. The older girl was already dressed in her school uniform, though her light coloured jacket had not yet been pulled over her blouse, and her tie had yet to be fastened, instead it hung around her neck loosely. The top button of the girls blouse was unfastened as well, revealing a slither of pale flesh that was usually hidden from view...at least at school anyway.

Natsuki swallowed...there was something about Shizuru looking as she did now that made her brain not function correctly. Her eyes trailed downwards, taking in the way that the white material of the girls blouse seemed to hug her body in certain places more than others. She couldn't continue her downwards trek any further due to the couch blocking her view and instead she moved her eyes away from the girls uniform to her face, which was tipped to the side slightly, an amused glint in her crimson eyes. The Kyoto born unconsciously licked her bottom lip slightly before raising an eyebrow at her younger friend.

Natsuki noticed the raised eyebrow and how the other girl's full lips were tugged upwards slightly in a small smirk. Then she realised what she had done and a blush flared across her face. She had just checked Shizuru out!

Shizuru herself was rather shocked by this as well. She was definitely used to people looking at her like that, but never had she expected Natsuki to look at her in such a way. In all honesty she was very close to joining her friend in blushing.

The silence stretched out and Shizuru knew that she had to do something to break it before it got awkward...but what should she say? Usually she would have easily thought up a tease, but right now, she just wanted to savour the moment and not make Natsuki too embarrassed about it. Maybe if the blunette knew Shizuru wouldn't tease her about it she would do it more often? The Kyoto born highly doubted that but hey, it was worth a shot right?

Natsuki herself was now staring at her feet, which were tangled in the sheets Shizuru had lent her last night. She was sure that she could boil water off her face at the minute and really wished her blush would go away. She was waiting for Shizuru to tease her mercilessly; she'd never hear the end of it she was sure. She was certain that the older girl had known exactly what had just happened, if that damnable smirk was anything to go by.

"Ara, if Natsuki doesn't hurry we will both be late for school" Emerald eyes looked up cautiously. Was Shizuru really just going to let the matter drop? Just like that? No teasing? She narrowed her eyes slightly,

"What? Natsuki didn't think that I would allow her to skip school did she?" Shizuru chuckled lightly and then started to finish getting ready. Natsuki, who was more than happy to complain about school rather than think about why Shizuru hadn't just teased her, fell backwards onto the floor with a groan.

"Urgh, it's so boring though! Half of the people from my classes aren't there anyway because they're helping set up the graduation ceremony" She huffed as she untangled herself from the sheets, which caused her neck and back to ache in protest "And by the way, your couch sucks" She heard Shizuru chuckle at this as she made her way to the bathroom,

"Natsuki always says that, but she cannot blame me for it, since I always offer her my bed" They continued to talk even with a door between them,

"Yea, except unlike most people, you're not offering to give me a bed while you sleep on the couch"

"Of course not, I am well aware that my couch is very uncomfortable"

"And the two of us sleeping in your bed _would_ be comfortable?" She asked though she could guess what Shizuru's answer would be like

"Of course it would, Natsuki would be there and that would make it the perfect place to sleep" The blunette sighed while pulling her leathers on after dumping the long t-shirt and shorts she had slept in in the washing basket.

"I figured you would say something like that. What time is it?" She asked while using Shizuru's hair brush to tame her unruly bed head. She had actually gotten used to these conversations recently, although if she had been stood in front of the older girl as she said these things she may have still blushed. Still, that didn't mean she wouldn't change the topic when she could.

"We have half an hour to get to school so I suggest that Natsuki hurries up" Half an hour was plenty of time, after all Natsuki's bike would get them there in around 10-15 minutes. The younger girl knew that Shizuru usually liked to get to the school council room before classes though...for whatever reason. It probably had something to do with tea.

With that in mind she quickly brushed her teeth using the toothbrush she always left at Shizuru's and then left the bathroom. She found Shizuru stood almost exactly where she had left her, stood behind the couch. Although now she was dressed properly, with her special light coloured school jacket fastened and her tie in place.

Natsuki ignored the older girl and moved towards the door, grabbing her bike helmet as she went. After they had both pulled on their shoes and Shizuru had locked the door they were off. Speeding down the rather busy streets of Fuuka, although obviously not going as fast as Natsuki usually did.

When they arrived at the school gates Natsuki promptly ignored the looks they were getting. It was always like this whenever she dropped the Kaichou off at school. People would glare at her as if she was unworthy of even being within a ten mile radius of the gorgeous Kyoto born.

Shizuru also ignored the looks, far too used to them by now, and elegantly climbed off the motorbike before handing Natsuki her helmet back and giving her a closed eye smile, head slightly tipped to one side,

"I'll see Natsuki later?" Natsuki grunted in response before revving the bikes engine and pulling away from the school. Shizuru smiled softly as she watched the girl go, she hoped that the younger girl was just going to go home to get changed into her uniform and then actually attend some lessons. The blunette had her last exam of the year tomorrow and Shizuru sincerely hoped that her friend had been studying...though even to her the thought seemed somewhat ridiculous.

* * *

><p>Natsuki had in fact done as Shizuru was hoping. She had sat through what remained of her first lesson by the time she got there and after that she had also attended her second lesson. Now it was break time, and the blunette was ever thankful for it, she had been reminded why she skipped so many classes, they were just so damn boring!<p>

She quickly found Mai and Mikoto under their usual tree. The black haired girl was happily munching on...something and Mai had her face buried in a huge text book.

"Yo" she greeted them, feeling better than she had done the day before. Mikoto grinned at her,

"Hey Natsuki!" while Mai gave her a slight wave in response,

"Forget to study or something Mai?" When she got no reply she raised an eyebrow, not that the girl could see it. Mai didn't usually get so worked up over exams...in fact she was usually quite laidback about it. Natsuki shrugged before leaning towards her friend and ripping the thick book from her hands,

"Ahh! Natsuki! Give it back!" Mai frowned as she lunged at her stolen book,

"Its break Mai, chill out" The ice princess casually flung the book over her shoulder, much to Mai's annoyance. The red head didn't try to retrieve the book though and instead just folder her arms over her chest with a huff.

"Why are you so annoyed anyway, you've been studying for weeks, you'll be fine" Natsuki spoke again, eyebrow still raised. Mai sighed and looked at her friend,

"Yeah, I guess you're right" she relaxed a little and then noticed that her blue haired friend seemed much brighter than she had the day before, and she looked like she'd had a decent night's sleep. The busty girl smiled as she realised that Natsuki had probably slept at the Kaichou's house last night. She couldn't be sure as the older girl did sometimes just disappear without telling her anything and wouldn't return until the next morning, but still...she thought it was the best bet for her friend's change of mood.

"Oi, what are smiling at?" The older girl questioned her, to which she shrugged,

"You look happy today Natsuki. Did something happen?" She kept her amused eyes focused on the girls face, looking for tell tale signs. The other girl did blush very faintly,

"No, why?"

"Well you were a sack of sad yesterday, something must have happened" Natsuki eyed her friend suspiciously, what was Mai trying to get at here?

"Err, not really. I guess I just got enough sleep for a change?"

"Oh yeah, by the way where were you last night?"

"I stayed at Shizuru's, why?" Natsuki asked, still suspicious. And then she saw the smile on her friend's face widen slightly and she knew where this was going.

"What, can't a person be worried when their roommate doesn't come home?" Natsuki just rolled her eyes at this, "So, how is Kaichou-san?" Now she had brought the Kyoto born up she could try to pry more details out of her friend. She was immensely curious as to what was going on between the two females and more importantly if Natsuki was ever going to do anything about how she so obviously felt!

"Shizuru's ok I guess" Mai frowned at that response,

"You guess? Natsuki you're an awful friend! You don't even know how she is?" Natsuki scowled at her little outburst and then made Mai feel slightly guilty by looking at the ground a bit sadly. When she realised that Natsuki wasn't going to say anything in response she spoke again, "Have you thought about what you're going to get her for graduating yet?" She watched a frustrated look come across her friends face before the girl mimicked what she had done the day before by laying backwards on the grass with a sigh,

"I haven't got a clue" The blunette had her eyes closed, her eyebrows knitted together in annoyance. She _really _didn't want to think about Shizuru graduating. It made her feel nervous; it was like a massive time limit looming over her. Sensing her friends discomfort again, Mai decided to try something else,

"Ah, I can't wait to finish the last of my exams! I'll finally be able to spend some time with Tate" She smiled, mostly to herself since Natsuki wasn't looking at her. She was happy about seeing Tate, but this conversation was being started for a purpose. Natsuki was grateful for the change of topic,

"That's nice"

"Yeah. It seems like ages since I've actually spoken to him!"

"Didn't you speak to him like... 2 days ago?"

"Only for a little while. But that's beside the point anyway! I bet you wouldn't be too happy if you didn't get to speak Kaichou-san for 2 days!" Mai smiled again, _this _was the purpose of the conversation, she was trying to draw parallels between her feelings for Tate and Natsuki's for Shizuru without making it obvious she was doing so. Though it would be a miracle if Natsuki realised that was happening anyway. Worth a shot though!

"How is that even the same thing?" _'Geez Natsuki. You really are dense'_ Mai thought before speaking again,

"Well I'm just saying that you wouldn't like it if you couldn't see Kaichou-san as often as you do right?" Natsuki propped herself up on her elbows so she could look at her friend, and then replied with a confused sounding,

"Err, I guess" Mai nodded,

"Well, that's how I feel about not getting to see Tate!" She then sighed dreamily "I can't wait for the spring holidays; we'll have loads of time to go on dates and stuff!" This was not actually part of her plan, she was just genuinely excited. Natsuki rolled her eyes at her friend and let her head fall back down on to the grass. What Mai had said had made her think though.

She never really went more than a day or two without seeing Shizuru. And if she didn't see the older girl they would either text or phone each other. The idea of _not _doing that didn't sit very well with her. And mentioning the spring break hadn't been completely wasted, since Natsuki found herself wondering what Shizuru would be doing during their time off. She hoped the older girl wasn't planning on spending it in Kyoto. She'd have to ask her later.

"Ooohh, I'm definitely going to make him watch that new film with me! And we can go to the art gallery and..." Natsuki listened to Mai's happy rambling for a little longer before speaking up,

"What's the big deal about it anyway? Don't you do all those things with Mikoto?"

"Well, yeah...but it's different!" Natsuki laughed,

"How? How do you know you even like him as more than a friend?" Mai blinked at her, was Natsuki actively trying to draw parallels herself? It certainly seemed that way since Natsuki had never shown much of an interest in Tate. Perhaps the blunette wasn't as dense as Mai had previously thought. The red head quickly thought about her answer, and then looked at her friend, who had once again propped herself up on her elbows,

"Well. Apart from the obvious things that friends don't want to do with friends..." She laughed lightly as Natsuki blushed "I guess it's just how..." She actually felt kind of embarrassed to say these things, but what the hell "he makes me feel... he makes me smile...and I get the butterflies in my stomach thing. When I'm with him I'm not really thinking about anything else and when I'm not with him...well I feel like I should be and..."

"Ok, I get it" Natsuki chuckled lightly at her friend's slightly blushing face and blissful expression. She hadn't really needed Mai to say those things; she already knew that she felt that way towards Shizuru. But having Mai confirm that that was indeed how she felt about Tate let her know that yes, she did like Shizuru as more than a friend.

Mai watched as a small smile made its way onto the older girls face. The blunette then laughed quietly, it was a sound that Mai hadn't heard from the biker before. It was happy and carefree, something that she just didn't relate with Natsuki. None the less, it made her smile as well; she had obviously just helped her friend out. Now she just had to hope that the blunette would do something with it.

Almost as soon as Natsuki's little laugh was finished the chime signalling the end of break met their ears, and Mai suddenly realised that she hadn't spent her time revising as she had planned! The red head quickly jumped to her feet, pulling Mikoto up with her and then moved past her older friend (who was making no moves to get up),

"If I fail my maths test tomorrow I'm so blaming you Natsuki!" She yelled rather cheerfully despite her words. She then picked up her discarded text book and moved towards the school building, leaving Natsuki smiling to herself.

* * *

><p>After realising that sitting out in the open when she was meant to be in class was a bad idea Natsuki had made her way to a more secluded area that teachers couldn't be bothered checking. This was mostly due to the fact that getting there would mean traipsing through the small wooded area behind the main school building. After the trek though there was a small field that seemed to have no purpose what so ever, making it the perfect place to skip classes.<p>

Now with her back leaning against a tree, its leaves shielding her from the bright rays of the sun Natsuki was deep in thought. Her happiness had been short lived as she soon found herself over thinking things.

Things like _'what if I tell Shizuru how I feel...and things don't work out? Or I decide that actually, I don't feel like that and I really hurt her. If it didn't work out between us would we still be friends?' _She realised that if things didn't work out between them it would most likely be her doing and not Shizuru's...meaning she would probably end up breaking the girl's heart _'I can't do that to her...but I can't keep things as they are either, arrgggg! Why can't this just be simple!' _She wished she could treat this like she treated everything else in life.

When she'd been a HiME she'd understood that some of the things she was doing were incredibly dangerous...like jumping onto a moving lorry from a bridge or some other ridiculous stunt, but she would do it anyway. If something was difficult or didn't have a definite outcome she would still give it a go. She had never really been the type of person to run away from things, she was used to meeting things head on, consequences be damned!

But this was different. If something went wrong it wouldn't just affect her...it would have an impact on Shizuru as well. She'd spent the last month or so hating that pain she saw in the older girl's eyes when she looked at her. She didn't think she would be able to handle taking that pain away and then causing it to return, probably ten times as bad.

Of course, there were other things that bothered her too. She had spent the past few years of her life telling herself that she didn't need anybody, and although she had now come to terms with the fact that it was ok to care for people and be cared for in return...she still had little moments where she hated it. She didn't want to have to rely on anyone. She didn't want to trust anybody. She had trusted her parents, and where had that gotten her? Her mother had tried to sell her and her father had left her in a coma to start a new life with his mistress.

But she supposed it was a little too late to be thinking these things about Shizuru. She already trusted the older girl. And that was what scared her. She trusted Shizuru more than anyone and if that trust was broken she'd be completely destroyed. She was certain that if that happened she would revert back to how she used be. Cold, distant and angry. She really didn't want to go back to that. Hating everything and everyone around you made for a very lonely existence.

She didn't think it likely that Shizuru would hurt her, at least not intentionally. But there was no way she could be 100% certain about that.

But, if she gave this a shot, she would make the older girl happy, she would get to see that gorgeous smile of hers and hear her contagious laughter whenever she wanted. And more to the point...she was pretty sure it would make _her _happy too.

She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her head atop them. Basically, she had to decide whether or not it was worth it. Whether or not Shizuru was worth it.

* * *

><p>Nao was walking around the school grounds, having been kicked out of her lesson for flicking skittles at her classmate's heads. She subconsciously ended up behind the school building, heading through some trees and onto a small field, it was the perfect place for hiding from teachers, as they could never be bothered traipsing through the small woods.<p>

It was a place that she and Natsuki frequented _'Speaking of Kuga'_ Nao spotted the blue haired girl leaning against a tree not too far from where she was stood and made her way over. As she got closer to the older girl she noticed the distant, troubled look on her face, Natsuki was obviously thinking hard on a difficult subject, if Nao had to guess what subject it was, she would put her money on Shizuru. She plopped down next to the other girl, causing her to jump,

"Sorry to cut short your daydream about your witch of a girlfriend" _'she shoots…'_

"Shizuru isn't a witch stop calling her that!"

"But she is your girlfriend huh?"_' she scores!'_ Nao whooped internally at her victory, and received a thump in the arm from Natsuki for her comment. Although, the younger girl noted, she didn't deny that Shizuru was her girlfriend.

They sat in a comfortable silence for a while. Nao pulled out her remaining skittles and offered the bag to Natsuki who picked out 2 red ones, knowing that they were the red heads favourite. Nao simply scowled at the older girl before emptying the rest of the packet into her mouth.

Natsuki watched her friend do this and burst out laughing when Nao filled her cheeks with the sweets like a hamster. Natsuki's sudden outburst caused the younger girl to laugh as well, the force of her laughter threatening to push the sweets from her mouth, which made her laugh more at the thought. A single skittle popped out of her mouth, and the pair went into a full blown giggle fit, with Nao trying desperately not to lose her remaining skittles.

After calming down, so as not to choke on the sweets Nao exhaled deeply, her cheeks hurt and her stomach ached from her laughing and she was sure that Natsuki was feeling the same. She glanced at the older girl and noted that while she had looked highly amused a second ago she was now almost glaring at her! _'What the hell! Mood swings much?'_

"I know I'm nice to look at and all Kuga but can you stop staring? You're making me nervous" When Natsuki didn't reply _or_ look away Nao turned to face her properly. There was an intensity in those green orbs that she hadn't seen since during the Carnival and it was almost...scary.

"What's up with you?" She asked, keeping her voice as normal as possible. The look in those eyes reminded her of things she would rather forget though, so it wasn't as easy as she wished it had been.

Natsuki was trying to calm herself down. After she had laughed with Nao she'd remembered the conversation she'd had with Shizuru the day before and the anger she'd felt towards the red head in front of her was threatening to return.

She knew that she really shouldn't be angry with Nao, after all, like Shizuru, she had been played by the Obsidian Lord to do things she wouldn't have normally done. Sure Nao wasn't exactly perfect beforehand but if she hadn't been blamed for attacking Yukariko and lost her eye in the battle following it Natsuki doubted that the younger girl would have kidnapped her.

Still...it seemed a bit unfair for Nao to make Shizuru feel so guilty for something that she herself had caused. If Nao hadn't kidnapped her then Shizuru wouldn't have felt the need to attack.

Nao was looking at her with confusion, she needed to say something but she didn't know how to start. It wasn't like she could just say 'Hey, stop being a bitch to Shizuru all the time, k tnx bye'. She knew that it was a sore point for Nao as well and she didn't really feel like making her friend feel incredibly guilty.

She had to say something though; she'd promised Shizuru that she would,

"Can I ask you something?" She finally looked away from the red head and instead focused her gaze on the grass below her,

"Err, ok" Nao sounded cautious,

"Why do you still hate Shizuru so much?" She knew that it sounded like a stupid question, and she knew that it would hit a nerve with Nao, which it did,

"What do you mean why do I hate her? She killed my Momma! And tried to kill me!" Yes, she'd definitely hit a nerve.

"I don't hate you though" At this Nao's anger faded into confusion,

"Wha...?"

"Well, you could have killed me when you made me fall off my bike right? And you kidnapped me twice. I don't hate you for it though. _None _of us were acting like ourselves during the Carnival" Normally she would have struggled to have a conversation like this, but she was determined to sort this out, or at least start the ball rolling anyway.

Nao stayed silent, her gaze also on the grass below them. She wanted to defend herself, to say that she had only been acting that way because Natsuki had caused her to lose her eye...but then she realised that Shizuru had only been acting the way she had because she was protecting Natsuki. Her excuse didn't seem so valid anymore. If she was going to hate anybody it should have been Natsuki really.

Natsuki knew that she'd just made Nao feel pretty damn guilty, but she had to say these things if they were ever going to get over them.

"I'm not going to ask you to forget what happened, or to even forgive Shizuru for what she did. But can you at least give her a chance before you decide she's a psychopath? Do you really think that I would still be her friend if she was anything like she was during the Carnival?"

Nao thought about that. She was fairly certain that Natsuki had been terrified of the Kyoto born towards the end of the Carnival. She definitely wasn't now though; in fact Nao was pretty sure that Natsuki was in love with the older girl. HiME Shizuru and Kaichou Shizuru may as well have been two completely different people.

She couldn't forget about what Shizuru had done to her, but maybe Natsuki was right. She didn't really have the right to hold what happened against the Kyoto born, especially not when she had sort of caused it. And as Natsuki had said, none of them had been themselves, they had all been played in some way or another. For example, Mikoto had defeated Midori and as such killed Midori's most precious person...and yet, the red headed teacher didn't seem to hold a grudge against the young girl. The more she thought about it the more it made her feel childish for her hatred. With a sigh, she finally spoke,

"Fine. I won't hate on the snake as much" She used those words to try and make herself feel better. This entire conversation made her uncomfortable and she really wished that they could go back to laughing and joking.

Natsuki breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn't expected it to go quite as smoothly as it had. She'd expected Nao to yell at her a lot and tell her to go to hell. Instead she was thankfully proven wrong. Ok so Nao hadn't exactly promised that she would be _nice _to Shizuru, but Natsuki hadn't really expected that anyway. She was confident that the younger girl would at least try to be a little less hostile from now on though and that was good enough for now. After letting the silence drag out a bit more she felt it necessary to lighten the mood a bit to show that nothing had changed between them,

"You'll be a member of her fan club before you know it" She smirked at Nao's glare,

"Like hell I will!"

After sitting with Nao for a while longer the (ex) Ice princess decided to attend her next lesson (3 lessons out of 4! That must be a record!). It was Maths, and since she had her math exam the next day she figured it would probably be a good idea to attend. Especially since she was pretty sure that if she failed any of her classes she would have to repeat them over the spring break. She _did not_ want to repeat maths.

Once she'd been sufficiently tortured by equations and mathematical symbols the class ended and she made her way to the Student Council room. She didn't even notice the slight spring in her step, nor the small smile that tugged at her lips as she approached her destination.

She was relieved to see that Shizuru's fan club weren't gathered around the door like they usually were, though that relief went straight out the window once she stepped into the room. The fans that had been missing from outside the door were currently surrounding the desk at the front of the room. She felt her eye twitch in irritation.

Shizuru smiled politely at the group before her as they bombarded her with questions and compliments,

"Will you be visiting the school after you graduate?"

"You'll come back and see us wont you Kaichou-sama?"

"I'll be following you to university next year!"

She was currently fighting the urge to massage her temples and tell them all to bugger off, but her manners prevented her from doing so...luckily someone had just entered the room who did not care much for manners,

"Oi! Fuck off will you!" The group of students turned to see who had spoken in such a rude way in front of their beloved Kaichou...only to pale and scurry away as they had been instructed. They definitely didn't want to get on Kuga Natsuki's bad side. And the biker certainly did not look happy,

"Ara ara, Natsuki is so rude" Shizuru tried to scold...but her smile kind of ruined it,

"Yea well, I know you were thinking it, you're just too polite to actually _say_ it" The Kyoto born always found it slightly amusing how Natsuki treated her fan club,

"Is Natsuki jealous that I was spending time with other girls?" She teased the frowning girl, who was now leaning against her desk in front of her,

"That's not it...They practically stalk you, its creepy!" The blunette scowled, and Shizuru couldn't help but think that perhaps there was a bit of truth to her tease...since Natsuki usually blushed when she said things like that.

"Well, Natsuki has her own share of stalkers, it cannot be helped"

"Difference is I tell them where to go...you're too nice" Natsuki had to admit that the way Shizuru practically flirted with her fan club annoyed her,

"Ara, well if Natsuki thinks that I am too nice, perhaps I should be _naughty_ instead" The younger girl caught the tone in the Kyoto born's voice and promptly turned red as visions of Shizuru doing _'naughty' _things invaded her brain.

"Gah! Shizuru!" She buried her head in her hands to hide her red face,

"Yes Natsuki?" She replied with a small chuckle, oh how she loved to see that blush,

"Don't do that!"

"Do what?" She smiled innocently, even though the other girl wasn't looking at her,

"You know what!"

"I'm afraid I don't know what Natsuki means, maybe she should explain" She stopped herself from laughing at her friend's growl,

"Never mind!" Shizuru waited a few beats before speaking up again once she saw the blush on Natsuki's face receding,

"Ara...was Natsuki perhaps referring to the _naughty _things I was speaking of?" She then laughed heartily at the bikers groan and utterance of her name

"Shizuruuuuuu"

Only once Shizuru's laughter had died down did Natsuki dare to look at her. She noticed that her friends face was slightly red from her laughter and she was wiping what she presumed to be a tear from the corner of her eye.

She loved seeing Shizuru like this. Like a normal, happy teenager, not a perfect and well mannered representative of the Fujino name. She had always enjoyed the sound of her friend's laughter; it was usually contagious, even if it was at her expense. And she knew that very few people could get Shizuru to laugh in such a way. There were very few people Shizuru trusted enough to drop her guard around...and she was one of those people. One of a very select group of people that Shizuru trusted well enough to be herself around.

Natsuki realised that she was very similar in that regard. There were very few people she could be genuinely herself with. In fact, she was pretty certain Shizuru was the _only _person she was comfortable enough around to really be herself. She knew that the older girl may tease or laugh at her, but she also knew that no matter what, Shizuru would always be there for her.

As she locked her eyes with the curious rubies across from her and felt that fluttering feeling in her stomach, she made a decision. If she was going to risk getting hurt for the chance to be happy, she wanted it to be with Shizuru. She now knew what she was going to give Shizuru for graduating.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>Ok, so, there's chapter 3 for you! :)

Again I'm sorry for any mistakes. There may well be more in this chapter since I only looked over it very briefly. And also, I'm sorry that the conversation between Natsuki and Nao was kind off...rushed...to be honest I just want to get it out of the way so I can focus on other things XD (The whole Nao/Shizuru thing is something I plan to revisit though at some point).

Not sure when I'll be able to update next since I'm away this weekend (freezing my arse off in Scotland XD) but should be next week sometime!

Thanks again for reading, please leave a review if you enjoyed it...or if you didn't so I know what I'm doing wrong (: And I hope to see you next time!

~IlliterateKoi~


	4. Graduation

**Disclaimer;** I really wish I did own them (or just Shizuru, that would be good too) but sadly I do not ):

**AN: **Thank you everyone for your wonderful reviews! They really do make my day :) And thank you to everyone that has added this story to their alerts/faves as well :)

I'm sorry it took me so long to update (ok so it wasn't that long but it was longer than I wanted it to be XD) but this chapter is twice as long as the previous one so that makes up for it right? Unless you find long chapters annoying...I don't know XD Anyway, hope you enjoy :)

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><p><strong>Barricade<strong>

**Chapter 4: Graduation**

_"Everyone hears what you say. Friends listen to what you say. Best friends listen to what you don't say."_

* * *

><p>The rest of the day had gone by rather quickly for Shizuru. Shortly after staring into her loves eyes for several seconds longer than she was usually allowed to, her favourite blunette had blushed again before turning the conversation towards rather mundane topics...such as school work and some 'rubbish' TV show that everyone was talking about.<p>

The younger girl had then walked her to her class before walking away, promising that she too was heading for her next lesson. The last two lessons of the day had been...boring in all honesty, but they had at least not lasted a torturous amount of time as they usually seemed to.

After the short walk to her apartment Shizuru had made a bee line for her tea pot, enjoyed a relaxing cup of her favourite brew and then wandered back into the front room...where she saw the tangled mess of blankets hanging off the couch.

She smiled at the sight of them, remembering how Natsuki had looked with them wrapped around her legs after having falling from the furniture. Then she remembered how Natsuki had looked at _her_. Since she was alone she did nothing to suppress her blush at the memory.

Natsuki had quite clearly checked her out. And Shizuru was pretty sure she had liked what she saw. The Kyoto born plopped rather ungracefully onto the couch before pulling the white sheets from the floor up and around her shoulders. She snuggled into the fabric, allowing the younger girls scent to wash over her.

There were several different things that made up Natsuki's particular scent, such as her brand of shampoo or deodorant, which was usually accompanied by the faint smell of motor oil and the fresh scent of the outdoors. And then there were the unidentifiable scents that could only really be described as Natsuki-esc.

Not caring that she was sat on her couch in her apartment on her own, Shizuru let a silly smile wash over her features. She couldn't help it; she was in a good mood. And why shouldn't she be? She had spent the previous afternoon with her most important person, teased her and then persuaded her to stay over for the first time since the Carnival. Which meant that within minutes of her waking up she could see the blunette's beautiful face! Who wouldn't be in a good mood if they got to see such a thing in the morning?

Then of course she had been rescued from her fan club by the biker...and promptly teased her into a lovely full face blush. Shizuru giggled lightly at the memory. But, it was after this that her favourite moment of the day had occurred.

Natsuki had watched her recover from her small laughing fit (If one could call it that) a ghost of a smile playing on her pink lips. When Shizuru had regained her composure and looked up, she had been met with dazzling emeralds, staring straight into her own crimson orbs.

Natsuki's eyes had been swirling with emotion and it almost made her heart stop...before making the organ beat faster, causing her to feel the almost violent thumps against her rib cage. She had never witnessed such an intense gaze from the younger girl, it made her feel like she was the only person in the world, or at least the only person that _mattered_.

When Natsuki had smiled at her, her heart almost leapt out of her chest, but she managed to keep hold of it and instead smiled back, her previous mischievous mood being replaced by simple happiness. There was something about that look. Something that just made her feel like she should be happy. And so, here she was, being happy.

She hadn't felt this giddy in quite a long time and it was certainly a refreshing change. Even the fact that she would be graduating in two days time couldn't ruin her mood.

The sudden thought of her graduation did however make her look over to the small table against the left wall of the room. Atop its shiny wooden surface lay her acceptance letters from both Kyoto University and Fuuka University.

She really needed to reply to one of them to accept her place...but which one? In her happy state of mind the choice was an obvious one but there was still a niggling feeling in the back of her mind warning her that things may not progress as she was hoping for.

Yes it certainly seemed that Natsuki was warming up to the idea of taking their relationship further...but it wasn't like it was set in stone. Even with the knowledge that younger girl had been thinking about it there was obviously still a chance that nothing would change.

Shizuru was well aware of Natsuki's distaste for speaking about her feelings and although the girl had made a massive amount of progress in that area she couldn't help but worry that Natsuki would chicken out. The Kyoto born then almost laughed at herself for such a ridiculous thought, Natsuki was many things, but a chicken she was not.

No, she would think positive. She was almost certain that the young biker was on the verge of returning her feelings and she was even more certain that when that moment came, Natsuki would tell her.

'_Now then, I suppose i had better start looking at the student accommodation...'_

* * *

><p>Nao eyed her friend suspiciously. They were currently wandering through the park not far from the school grounds with a group of other teens. 'They' being her and Natsuki of course. It was Wednesday, which was their designated drinking day for some reason...not that they didn't go out drinking on other days, but that wasn't the point.<p>

The red head had met Natsuki at the school gates as per usual and they had instantly begun walking towards the park. But Nao noticed almost immediately that something was different with the girl beside her...she seemed...content. Like she had come to terms with her life and knew where she was going. Nao snickered to herself when she realised what the biker must have 'come to terms' with.

"Oi, what are you cackling at?" Obviously her 'snicker to herself' hadn't been quite as subtle as she thought,

"Your face" the younger girl deadpanned which got Natsuki to laugh lightly,

"Yeah ok...you got any cigs?" She knew she shouldn't smoke...but her good mood made her not really care, she wanted a smoke damn it!

"Err, no. Somebody here must have some though" Nao looked around at the group they were walking with, trying to spot somebody she knew to be a smoker,

"Yeah, they will...but getting them to share is a whole different thing" Natsuki pointed out. She didn't really know anybody here apart from Nao since she never really bothered to talk any of the random teens during these outings...she was mainly just here for the booze anyway.

Nao was still scanning the group, which had now stopped at a bench...

"Aha" she muttered as her lime green eyes met a face she recognised, "Oi! Kenta you better have beer! And cigs!" She yelled while walking towards the bench where a young man was currently sitting,

"Well, hello to you to Nao-Chan! I haven't seen you around for a while!" The boy stood up and revealed that he was several feet taller than Natsuki, his messy brown hair fell in front of his blue eyes and he quickly swept it out of the way to look at the blunette who had followed behind Nao,

"Yeah, hey" Nao grumbled

"Yo" Natsuki gave a small half wave to the boy. Hey, if he possibly had the cig she wanted she could be civil!

"Oh, are you a friend of Nao-Chan's?" Kenta asked while smiling at the beauty before him. Natsuki chuckled,

"Well, I dunno about friends but, yeah, I know 'Nao-Chan" Natsuki smirked at the glare she got from her shorter companion,

"Alright, cool, I'm Ikeda Kenta" He bowed slightly, which Natsuki laughed at,

"Kuga Natsuki" She didn't bow, merely half smirked at him,

"Ok, now we all know each other, can we _please _get to the beer!" Nao growled, causing Natsuki and Kenta to laugh lightly, before the beer was supplied, along with cigarettes.

* * *

><p>A couple of hours later and the majority of the people in the park were at least partially drunk...except Nao, who was currently dancing around to some music on her phone and singing rather drunkenly. The red head was not 'partially drunk' more like completely pissed of her face and Natsuki couldn't help but laugh as the younger girl stumbled over her own feet.<p>

The blunette was sat on the bench on her own with only the stash of alcohol keeping her company. She was smiling to herself, she hadn't felt this relaxed in a long time and she knew why that was. She had spent the past week or so worrying and thinking about how she felt, and even though she wasn't really 100 percent _certain _what she felt, she knew enough to put her mind at ease.

She was planning on telling Shizuru on Friday, or more specifically, at the Graduation party Mai was holding. She figured that while at the moment she _really_ wanted to tell the older girl, when the time came to actually go ahead with it she would be extremely nervous. The party therefore seemed like her best bet, since she would be able to have a few drinks to calm herself.

Just thinking about the Kyoto born made her smile. She wondered what Shizuru was doing right now..._'probably drinking tea'_. She wondered what kind of alcohol the older girl drank...if she did at all. She could totally imagine Shizuru drinking tea while everyone else had alcohol, though she was sure that wouldn't be the case. She also wondered if Shizuru was as much of a lightweight as her and Nao. Although her tolerance had improved, Nao's had not...which was evident by the slurred singing that met her ears '_what the hell is she singing?'_

"Profiteroles...BOOM!...profiteroles...SOON!"(1) The group around the drunken girl laughed at her antics, and some of them even joined in the singing.

"Hey, you not joining in?" Natsuki looked up in the direction of the voice, and saw that it belonged to the guy they had been talking to earlier _'...shit...What was his name again?'_

"No, I'm good" She replied bluntly, she had gotten alcohol and cigs and therefore did not feel the need to be particularly friendly with him,

"Ah, yeah" He looked away from her and instead focused on the small crowd before chuckling lightly at what he saw (Nao falling over) "It's funnier to watch anyway I guess" He sat down next to the biker. Natsuki didn't reply and instead just took a swig from her beer, hoping that the boy would find the silence awkward and leave...no such luck,

"So, do you go to Fuuka as well?" He focused on the bottle in his hands while he spoke,

"Yeah"

"Ok, cool. Are you in high school?"

"Yes"

"What year?" He was really starting to feel awkward now but he assumed that the young girl was merely a bit shy, hence the abrupt answers.

"First year"

"Oh, ok. I'm just about to finish my first year at Fuuka uni. I went to Fuuka Academy too"

"That's nice" _'Why won't this loser just take the hint and leave!' _Natsuki could feel her good mood disintegrating into annoyance, she did not want to be involved with any talk of university at the moment...it was a topic she really need to bring up with a certain tawny haired girl and just thinking about it made her worried. Instead she decided to try and make the boy sat next to her feel like a loser,

"Why are you hanging around with high school...or middle schoolers if you're about to start your second year of uni? Got no friends your own age?" She asked in monotone and took another swig of her beer. She rolled her eyes as the boy rubbed the back of his neck in an awkward manner,

"Haha, well, it's not like that really. There's people of all ages here. And besides Nao-Chan just sort of invited herself into the group once...so that's how we know her" Natsuki laughed despite herself,

"Sounds like Yuuki"

"Yeah? How so?" The blunette smirked; this was a good chance to cause some trouble,

"Well, she likes older guys. She probably wanted to get to know you better" She shrugged trying to maintain her indifferent appearance. The poor guy almost spat his beer out at that,

"Huh! No way!" Natsuki shrugged again,

"I'm pretty sure she doesn't let anyone else call her Nao-Chan" The boy looked over to where the red headed topic of conversation was still dancing/singing. He didn't look particularly happy with this information...which only served to amuse Natsuki further.

"Err...right. I better...erm...get going" He laughed nervously before leaving the blunette alone again. Natsuki smiled to herself; mission accomplished!

* * *

><p>Half an hour later and Natsuki was lugging a rather drunk Yuuki Nao down the road towards the school dorms. She paused at the school gates and simply loosened her hold on the younger girl, who immediately fell to the floor.<p>

"Hahaha! Natssskkiii"

"What!" The biker barked at her friend, too tired and out of breath to do much more,

"I dunno" There was a brief pause before Nao took a deep breath and began singing, "23 bottles of beer on the waaaaalll, 23 bottles of beeeeeer, if...erm...something happens to one of them there's only...22 bottles of beer on the wall! Ohhh 22 bottles of beer on the waaaall, 22 bottles of beeeeer..." Natsuki was now seriously considering leaving the red head here and going to bed but luckily the singing stopped and was followed by Nao groaning slightly as she pulled herself upright, swaying slightly as she did so. Natsuki rolled her eyes as the younger girl tried to walk forward but ended up moving sideways instead "Get off me Kuga! I can walk!" Nao complained, apparently she got bad mood swings when drunk,

"Clearly" Ignoring the girls protests Natsuki wrapped an arm around the shorter girl's waist and practically dragged her to the dorms. Getting up the stairs was a pain since Nao kept leaning backwards as if to balance herself...which just meant that both of them almost ended up toppling over.

Natsuki huffed as they finally reached the top of the stairs, they were almost there now. The blunette knocked on Nao's dorm room door, not wanting to dig through the girls pockets to find her keys since by now the younger girl was pretty much asleep. When Aoi opened the door she took one look at the people responsible for waking her before simply moving to the side.

Natsuki took that as her cue to throw the red head into the room, which she did, laughing lightly at the thud of Nao hitting the floor. Aoi then closed the door and Natsuki assumed that the brunette would return to bed, leaving her roommate on the floor.

With a small sigh of relief and slight exhaustion Natsuki made her way next door, she'd never been more thankful that she was staying at Mai's. The walk to her old apartment would have taken her a good 20 minutes and she definitely could not be bothered with that.

After letting herself in and changing into her baggy t-shirt and shorts the 17 year old collapsed on to her bed, sleep washing over her almost instantly. Sleep came a lot easier when her mind was settled.

* * *

><p>The next morning was a bright sunny one, though Natsuki didn't really appreciate that at the moment. It was far too early and she really wished to be back in the warm confines of her bed, snuggled up under her duvet.<p>

That was the downside of living with Mai. Even if Natsuki flung the alarm clock across the room to stop its infernal beeping the red head would still make her get up. So here she was, trudging towards the school building with a scowl. Mai and Mikoto were just in front of her, chatting away happily, as if it was normal to be so lively in the morning!

The blunette wondered if she would be able to slip away un-noticed before they reached the doors of the school building. She knew that even if she went back to bed now she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep, but she'd be damned if she would willingly sit through an English lesson. Besides, she had an exam later on, she should relax right?

As they neared the school building Natsuki spotted a gap in the trees lining the path, having taking that route before she knew that it would lead her to safety. She edged closer to it...

"Natsuki, don't even think about it. Come on, it's the last day of term! You won't be doing any work in most of your lessons anyway!" '_Damn you Tokiha!'_ the older girl sighed in defeat,

"Fiiiiine" Mai was right of course, most teachers were busy preparing for the Graduation ceremony so lessons were being left in the capable hands of the class representatives...which of course meant that they would be doing no work. But still...they had to sit in a stuffy classroom doing absolutely nothing.

It wasn't like Natsuki would be spending that time chatting with friends like the rest of her peers. Perhaps she should use that time to study for her maths exam or something. She really hoped she passed since she was pretty sure that she wouldn't survive a summer filled with algebra and pythagoras.

After coming to this conclusion she decided that yes, she would use her time to study. And study she did, even as her classmates yelled around her and threw paper planes at each other. It wasn't that bad really. Boring yes, but she could deal with it. She spent her second lesson doing the same thing, and found that the majority of her classmates were also using their time to revise this time around, apparently there were quite a few people who hadn't really revised very well for this exam.

When lunch eventually rolled around Natsuki felt her head was about to implode. She made her way to the student council room and felt her mood lift despite her pounding head. She was eager to see the school council president, knowing that the older girl would make her feel better...and well, just because she wanted to see her really. She pushed past the insignificant pests at the door (Shizuru's fan club) and slid the door open.

Shizuru, who had been massaging her temples to ease her headache, quickly sat up straight and pulled her cup of tea towards her before looking at the door. Upon seeing who had entered the room she visibly relaxed and smiled at the younger girl,

"Natsuki, I didn't think you would be joining me today, you have an exam do you not?" The Kyoto born noticed how Natsuki's face seemed to brighten as she spoke, her eyes lit up and a smile made its way across her lips.

Knowing that she must be the cause of such a thing made Shizuru's stomach flip and she sincerely hoped that she wasn't thinking too much in to this. Perhaps Natsuki was just a little stressed out and seeing a friendly face made her feel better...not that Natsuki ever really panicked over exams or such like. Nor had Shizuru ever seen the girl look so openly pleased to see her.

"Yeah, I've got to go to the hall in about 10 minutes, I just thought..." Natsuki paused as a small blush made its way across her cheeks...why _was_ she here? "Erm...I guess I just wanted to...erm..." _'Damn it Kuga! Speak!'_ Shizuru chuckled at her friends stuttering,

"Yes Natsuki?" The older girl knew what Natsuki was trying to say and it woke the butterflies in her stomach...but she wanted to hear Natsuki say it,

"I..." Natsuki growled to herself, her eyes looking everywhere but at the girl before her, why had she even said anything about it! She could have just said she had an exam later on and left it at that! _'Damn Shizuru and her ability to make me say things I didn't mean to!' _She could feel her cheeks burnings and it didn't help matters that she could feel Shizuru's eyes on her, waiting for her response. _'This shouldn't be so hard Kuga! Come on for fucks sake!'_

With a small sigh she spoke again, though her eyes still didn't go anywhere near the other girl,

"I just wanted to see you...I guess" When the silence dragged on for a while longer than the younger girl would have liked she eventually dragged her gaze to the Kyoto born's, and what she saw made her glad she'd found the courage to speak. Shizuru was smiling at her, and not just a simple small, polite smile, but a genuine smile that reached her eyes and made her look infinitely prettier.

Natsuki smiled back timidly, she suddenly felt very shy and it was not something she was used to feeling...especially not around Shizuru...embarrassed sure, but never shy.

"I'm glad that Natsuki wished to see me. I also wished to see Natsuki" Shizuru's voice sounded slightly off to the blunette and she looked at the older girl quizzically, but she only received a closed eye smile from the girl in response.

Silence returned for a minute or two before Natsuki glanced at the small clock hung on wall and realised that she really needed to get to her exam,

"I should get going"

"Yes, we wouldn't want you to be late now would we" Shizuru smiled as Natsuki grabbed the handle for the door "Good luck" The blunette looked back at her and gave her a lopsided grin,

"Don't need it, but thanks" Shizuru laughed lightly behind her hand at that as she watched her friend leave the room.

* * *

><p>A couple of hours later and Natsuki felt like bashing her head against a wall in an attempt to rid her brain of mathematical equations and such like. She felt pretty confident that she had passed the exam and therefore didn't feel the need to allow the information to clog up her brain.<p>

"Natsuki!" The sound of her name being called made the blunette turn back to face the rush of students trying to leave the exam hall. She caught sight of orange hair and waited for Mai to catch up. The younger girl looked extremely stressed and Natsuki had to wonder why.

Mai was pretty smart, so she was sure the busty girl would have passed her exam. Sure she had missed some lessons due to all the HiME stuff but the red head had been studying hard for all her exams over the past few weeks.

"Ahh, I'm so glad that's over!" Mai exclaimed, running a hand through her hair "I hope I managed to pass, there were some really difficult questions on the paper wasn't there?" In all honesty Natsuki couldn't really remember much about the actual exam at all,

"I guess"

"You didn't find it difficult?" Mai seemed exasperated, and Natsuki was worried that the violet eyed girl would beat her over the head if given the chance,

"I can't remember" She replied rather sheepishly fully expecting to have to defend herself...instead she saw that Mai was giving her a strange look, and a sly smirk,

"Oh, I see. Your mind was elsewhere during the exam wasn't it?" Damn straight her mind had been elsewhere! Why would she be thinking about maths when she could be thinking about a particularly alluring Kyoto born beauty? With deep pools of crimson, full pink lips and delicious looking curves that begged to be touched...yes definitely better than maths.

"Omg Natsuki! You've got it so bad!"

"Huh?" She had gotten caught up in her thoughts again...and now Mai was laughing loudly beside her. She blushed as she remembered her thoughts, since when did she start thinking like that! "Oh, shut up Tokiha!"

"Ahaha...oh Natsuki you do make for good entertainment! Ahah..." Mai continued to laugh intermittently while Natsuki growled in annoyance and scowled at her so called friend.

After a good few minutes they had reached the quad in front of the school and Mai had finally calmed down. The red head felt much better now, her exam woes forgotten. She looked at the gruff girl next to her and noticed that she was definitely distracted...if the slight smile on her lips was anything to go by anyway,

"Why are you looking at me?" She obviously wasn't as distracted as Mai had previously thought, but still, that smile definitely meant something and being the type of person she was she took a stab in the dark and asked,

"When are you going to tell her?" The red head watched in amusement as a slight blush crept across Natsuki face,

"Tell who what?" Natsuki tried, really not liking how everyone seemed to be able to read her so well at the moment. Mai snickered slightly at her friend,

"Tell Kaichou-san how you feel about her, obviously" Natsuki's blush deepened at those words and she gave Mai a look that reminded her of a deer caught in headlights, "Oh Natsuki come on, it's pretty obvious" she laughed as the blunette looked away, her shoulders slumped slightly in defeat,

"I was planning on telling her tomorrow, after the graduation ceremony, maybe at the party or something, I'm not sure" Natsuki was actually fairly surprised that she had not only spoken those words without so much as a stutter but also that she felt better for saying them. She brought her gaze back to her friend as they continued walking around campus. Mai opened her mouth to speak but was cut off,

"Eeep!" The funny squeak that left Mai's mouth made Natsuki chuckle to herself as her roommate was tackled by a blur with black hair.

"Maiiiiii!" Mikoto shouted happily, while rubbing her head on the girl's chest, "How was your exam? Can we go and celebrate the end of term with food now?" Mai laughed at the shorter girl while rubbing a hand through the mess of black hair atop her head,

"It was ok, and yes we can go" Mai looked up at Natsuki who had now stopped chuckling and was just smirking at her, "Want to come Natsuki?" The blunette shook her head, she knew that half of the school population would probably be celebrating the end of the school year and thus exams by heading to the various diners around town and she was never one for large crowds of people,

"Nah, I'm good. I'll see you later" The older girl turned and began walking away,

"Natsuki" She turned back to face her friend "I'm glad you found a good present for Kaichou-san's graduation" Mai winked at her and Natsuki frowned as yet another blush threatened to spill onto her face.

* * *

><p><span>Graduation Day<span>

Natsuki rolled over and groaned as the infuriating sound of Mai's alarm clock invaded her ear drums, waking her from her short slumber. She fished around for the device without opening her eyes but soon stopped when the noise disappeared, probably thanks to Mai.

She'd gotten hardly any sleep what so ever last night, thanks to her nerves catching up with her. She had spent the majority of the twilight hours mulling over how exactly she should tell Shizuru how she felt...what words in particular she should use, how she should act, should she hug her? Kiss her?

Then she had wondered about how Shizuru would react. She was pretty sure that the older girl would be happy, and was probably expecting her to say something, since she hadn't exactly been subtle about letting the Kyoto born know she was thinking about their relationship. What if it made things awkward though? It wasn't like Natsuki had any experience with these things; she didn't know how she was supposed to act, would things be different? She supposed they would be...but it would be in a good way right?

"Naaatsuuukiii~!" Mai's annoyingly happy voice broke through her thoughts and she groaned again, "Come on, we wouldn't want you to be late for the graduation ceremony now would we?" Natsuki knew without opening her eyes that the younger girl would have a smug grin plastered across her face. With yet another groan the biker finally rolled out of bed and went about her morning routine...albeit rather distractedly.

The short walk to school only caused the nervousness Natsuki was feeling to intensify, she felt like her stomach was constantly flipping with each step she took and she was seriously fighting the urge to run back to the dorm room. Instead she fiddled with a strand of cotton that had come loose from the sleeve of her hoodie, then she messed with her hair, then she searched her pockets for no reason what so ever. By the time they had made it to the school building Natsuki was tugging at her skirt, making it longer and then shorter again,

"Natsuki, Calm down. You'll be fine" Mai's eyes were full of support instead of the amusement Natsuki had expected to see there, and Mikoto just gave her a wide smile, though she didn't really know what the problem was,

"R-right" She mumbled, eternally grateful that there weren't many other students around to witness her in this state.

They had to go to their own class rooms, so once they had entered the school building the trio went their separate ways, but not before Mai spoke to Natsuki,

"We're all meeting at the field behind the school after the ceremony so I'll see you there?" Natsuki merely nodded in response.

After listening to her homeroom teacher drone on about the day's events and being led to the school gardens where the ceremony was being held Natsuki quickly fell into her seat towards the back of the area. Since they were first years they had the seats furthest away from the 'stage' while obviously the third year students got the first few rows.

There were also seats for parents of third year students and Natsuki idly wondered if Shizuru's parents would be attending. She had never met the elder Fujino's...nor did she particularly want to. She assumed that they would either be incredibly serious or the complete opposite and tease her to death. Shizuru rarely spoke about her parents and Natsuki wasn't sure why that was because when the older girl _did_ mention them, she spoke fondly of them.

Her nerves had settled down slightly now, though they were still there. She figured that she had a good few hours before she would see the Kyoto born anyway, since Shizuru would likely be busy doing student council president things...whatever they may be. She was worried that she would act really weird or awkward around the older girl due to her anxiousness, which just caused her nerves to become more intense.

She tried to shove all thoughts of Shizuru from her mind and decided to just pay attention to the ceremony, which had just gotten underway. Fumi said a few words about the graduating year, how glad she was to have played a part in such an important time in their lives...of course this had a deeper meaning to certain females within the crowd of students, since Fumi had herself been a HiME. She then went on to say how proud she was of everyone for doing so well throughout the school year and that she wished everyone the very best of luck with whatever they were planning on doing next, which for most would be university.

Natsuki ignored all thoughts of university, not wanting to dwell on such things for the time being...and then her heart stopped when she saw who was making their way towards the microphone on the podium. She felt the air whoosh out of her lungs as her eyes fell on the very person she was trying not to think about. _'Shizuru'_

The older girls beauty was evident even from such a distance and Natsuki felt her heart beat pick up in pace as her eyes refused to move from the slim form on the stage. When the soft sound of Shizuru's Kyoto-ben met her ears she unconsciously relaxed. Apparently hearing Shizuru's voice did wonders for her nerves and she allowed herself to simply enjoy the sound.

She wasn't entirely sure what the older girl was saying, since she was too enthralled with the sound of the voice rather that it's content. She was pretty sure Shizuru was saying something about it being a pleasure to know so many bright and intelligent young people and that she was happy to have been their council president...something Natsuki knew to be untrue.

Shizuru had complained about the work load she had due to her status as Kaichou several times and had expressed her displeasure in having to go to meetings and such. Natsuki had never understood why Shizuru would have even run for the position of president if she didn't enjoy such things. She supposed it would look good on her CV or something...but she doubted that Shizuru would stress herself out so much just for that. Oh well, this was Shizuru's last day as Kaichou, so it didn't really matter anyway.

Natsuki heard Shizuru say her thanks before handing the microphone over Reito, who spoke of similar things, and then to Haruka, who basically bellowed down the microphone that everyone had better behave because she would have no problem with returning to the school to dish out punishments.

After the school council had spoken several more people took the microphone, some teachers, others school governors. And once that was over the diplomas were handed out, Natsuki waited for Shizuru's name to be called and scowled when almost the entire school whistled and clapped as loudly as they could...damn Shizuru was popular.

Once that was over the students were dismissed and everyone rushed to find their friends. With the ceremony over the spring vacation had officially started and the teenagers were determined to start as they meant to go on. Which obviously meant the planning of parties and such like.

Some first and second year students fought through the crowds to congratulate their third year friends, Natsuki however headed away from the commotion, she wanted to talk to Sakomizu about something.

* * *

><p>Shizuru smiled politely at the group of crying girls before her...she was unsure what to do since no matter what she said they only seemed to cry harder. She glanced around and immediately forgot about her fan girls as her eyes fell on two familiar figures,<p>

"Excuse me" She said politely, and headed towards the two people, ignoring the wails and pleas for her not to leave. As she neared the couple they smiled brightly at her,

"Ahh Shi-Chan! We're so proud of you!" The woman in the pair spoke with unconcealed pride. The woman was almost a Shizuru lookalike, except for her stunning blue eyes and a few wrinkles here and there that gave away her age.

"Mother, Father, I wasn't expecting to see you here" Shizuru couldn't help the smile that lit up her face; she couldn't remember the last time she had seen her parents. Her father beamed at her,

"We wouldn't miss this for the world Shi-Chan, you know that!" The tall man with messy dark hair spoke in his deep voice, his red eyes brimming with pride. He then enveloped his only child in a bone crushing hug which Shizuru returned gladly. Once they broke apart her mother hugged her, though she didn't squeeze her daughter quite as hard as her husband had.

Both parents were dressed in business suits, which was the attire they spent most of their time in. Being the 2 CEO's of Fujino Corps meant that they spent an awful lot of time in meetings and dealing with the general running of the business.

"Are you only here for the ceremony?" Shizuru really wanted to spend some time with her parents but she was well aware that they both had extremely busy schedules, which was why she had been so shocked to see them here in the first place. The elder Fujino's both gave their daughter a sad smile and her Father spoke,

"I'm afraid so Shi-Chan, I have an important meeting later today and your mother is meeting with the board of directors" Shizuru gave them an understanding, yet sad smile,

"I understand, I know how hard you both work and it means a lot to me that you came today" Her parents each hugged her again,

"You will come and see us soon wont you? Perhaps you could bring Kanzaki-san?" Her mother winked at her and laughed lightly behind her hand when her daughter merely raised an eyebrow at her "Of course coming by yourself is good too" The older woman smiled as she and her husband began walking towards the school gates,

"I will try and make it to Kyoto soon yes" Shizuru smiled at their retreating forms.

Although the reunion was extremely short it was still a very nice surprise and Shizuru was happy that they had made the effort to attend the ceremony. A small smile refused to leave her face even as she moved away from the commotion of the school gardens. It took her a good 15 to 20 minutes to actually get out of the area due to the numerous amounts of people who stopped her to say their congratulations and ask what she was planning to do next.

Once she had left the bustling area she set about her next task. The task was to locate a certain blue haired biker of course and she wondered where she should start her search. Knowing Natsuki as she did she hadn't expected the younger girl to fight through the crowds of people to find her after the ceremony but she didn't know where Natsuki would have gone.

The young biker would likely be somewhere quiet, away from the areas that most students would be right now. Shizuru knew that the blunette liked to frequent the field behind the school but since the weather started to heat up the area had become a popular hangout spot for couples when lessons were finished. And so she doubted that the other girl would be there.

Even with that knowledge Shizuru couldn't think of anywhere else to start her search, if nothing else perhaps one of Natsuki's other friends would be there and would be kind enough to help her out. So, she set off in the direction of the field, walking down the small path by the side of the school building. After only a minute she caught what seemed like the tail end of a conversation,

"...classes over the break" A man's voice,

"What! But, there must be something you can do about that, right?" And there was the voice belonging to the very person Shizuru had been searching for,

"Nothing can be done about it" Shizuru made her way through the well spaced trees and saw silky blue hair,

"W-wait there must be..."

"Retaking classes sounds like a good idea" Shizuru watched as her friend turned around to face her stiffly,

"Shi-zu-ru" Holding back a chuckle the older girl remembered that she had been carrying her diploma around with her and decided to put it to good use by dropping it on the floor,

"Perhaps I won't graduate either" Natsuki seemed frozen to the spot and Shizuru was trying desperately hard not to laugh.

"Ah, Fujino-san, congratulations on graduating" The man's voice she had heard earlier met the Kyoto-born's ears and she looked at him with a polite smile,

"Ookini, Sakomizu-sensei" Sakomizu smiled at her before returning to his gardening, allowing Shizuru to return her attention to the girl before her...except she wasn't there anymore. Just as Shizuru was about to look around though the blunette reappeared, a rolled up piece of paper in her hand,

"Here" Natsuki handed her the paper, which Shizuru realised was her dropped diploma. The older girl took the paper in her hand but didn't pull it from the other girl's grasp, since Natsuki didn't seem to want to let it go just yet, "Congratulations on graduating, Shizuru" The blunette's cheeks were slightly pink as she smiled softly at her and the emotion swirling in those emerald depths caused a slight pinkness to spread across her own cheeks.

"Ookini, Na-tsu-ki" Her voice was barely above a whisper, her mind too preoccupied with those deep pools of green. All too soon though those gorgeous eyes were hidden by the girl's eyelids and once they opened again Natsuki was looking at the floor, while her feet shifted her weight. Shizuru noticed the nervous behaviour straight away and for some reason it made a small swirl of anxiousness wash over her as well.

"Natsuki, are you alright?" Any other time and she would have teased the younger girl, now though, something was stopping her. Natsuki still didn't look at her but instead took action in the form of grabbing Shizuru's hand and practically dragging her away from the side of the building, across the small path Shizuru had been walking on earlier and into the small cluster of trees on the other side.

Natsuki could feel her heart trying to jump out of her chest and hear it pounding in her ears. When she had heard Shizuru's voice her nerves had returned full force and she knew that she _had _to tell Shizuru now. She had to get this off her chest if she planned on surviving the day without passing out due to her anxiousness.

She had pulled the older girl into a small clearing that she knew nobody would walk through; she couldn't deal with being interrupted during this...talk. She was struggling not to chicken out of this in all honestly. It would be a lot easier to do that right now, but in the long run it would only make her feel worse...and she really didn't want to hurt Shizuru anymore. And so, with a deep inhale of air she stopped walking, causing the girl behind her to almost stumble into her back. She let go of Shizuru's hand and then turned around to face the Kyoto born.

She took in the confused and slightly worried expression on Shizuru's face and couldn't help but think that the girl was even more beautiful when she allowed her emotions to show through her mask. The way those crimson pools bore into her own emerald ones made her heart stutter dangerously.

She could see the maelstrom of emotion held within them, the affection and yearning, along with that pain she hated seeing there. But she could change that now couldn't she? There was also hope in those eyes and Natsuki smiled softly at her friend,

"Shizuru" Her voice was a soft as her smile and she watched Shizuru's face for a reaction. The older girl seemed to be nervous, and she still looked slightly confused and worried...but that hope was increasing. With another deep intake of breath Natsuki tried to steel herself for what she was about to say.

Shizuru, for her part, was trying to stop herself from shaking. She could see the nervousness radiating off of her friend, but there was also a strong determination in her eyes and the older girl just couldn't stop her mind from drawing hopeful conclusions.

"Shizuru, I know that..." She paused and inhaled deeply again, "I know that I said I had been thinking about...well, our...relationship" Both girls ignored the blush that spread across her face "And I've realised that..." Natsuki forced herself to look into the intense blood red eyes that hadn't left her face for a second "while the thought of being so close to somebody... scares me, if I was going to be like that with anyone, it...it could only be with you Shizuru"

Shizuru felt her mouth go dry and heart beat thunder in her ears. This couldn't actually be happening...it just...wasn't possible. Yes, she had allowed herself to hope, but she never really thought that it would happen like this. She had been expecting a gradual change in their relationship...that she would just be able to get away with being more forward towards the younger girl without her getting annoyed or severally embarrassed.

"I...I don't know why I didn't r-realise this before to be honest" Natsuki laughed, though the sound was awkward " I mean, you tease me mercilessly but I just...feel happy when I'm with you. A-and when you smile I...I can't help but smile with you" The blunette knew that she was blabbing a little bit, but she was speaking the truth. She waited to see if Shizuru would speak but the older girl seemed to be in a state of shock so she spoke again,

"I know that I'm not exactly...experienced in the whole... dating thing...but, I'm willing to give it a try. I mean... I-if you want to that is" Natsuki rubbed the back of her neck uncomfortably. She really wished that Shizuru would say something instead of staring at her like she had just said something completely unfathomable. She knew that she was blushing heavily, but she didn't care, all she cared about was Shizuru's response. This luckily came just a few seconds later,

"I-is Natsuki sure about this?" The older girl's voice was quiet and unsure, like she was being told something that was too good to be true "You're not just doing this out of...pity?" The hope in those deep red pools had increased tenfold, and there was an undeniable happiness swirling in them too...but there was still a bit of trepidation.

Natsuki smiled softly at the suddenly timid girl and stepped forward. She wrapped her arms around the taller girl's body, pulling her into an embrace, resting her chin on the girls shoulder so she could speak into her ear,

"I'm sure Shizuru, I want this" She felt Shizuru's slender yet strong arms wrap around her waist and pull her closer, forcing her own arms to move up and around the girls neck. She became aware of the girl's body shaking slightly against her and realised that Shizuru was crying. Unsure what to say now, Natsuki just rubbed her thumbs lightly across the skin of Shizuru's neck in what she hoped was a comforting manner.

"Na-tsu-ki, o-ookini" The Kyoto born had never felt so happy in all her life. Here she was, wrapped in the arms of her most precious person, who had just admitted to returning her romantic feelings...ok so it hadn't been quite those words, but Shizuru knew by now how to read between the lines of what Natsuki said. It was all in those dazzling emeralds.

The feeling was indescribable really. She felt so surreal, and yet at the same time she knew that she wasn't dreaming...this _was _real...which somehow made it seem even more dreamlike (2). She had stopped crying now, and let out a small, content sigh into Natsuki's shoulder.

She felt Natsuki pull out of the embrace slightly, but not completely, causing her hands to drift to the younger girl's hips while Natsuki's hands found her shoulders. Her heartbeat picked up its pace further and it pounded in her ears as Natsuki brought a hand to her face and brushed away a tear with the pad of her thumb. The blush was still present on the blunette's face and Shizuru thought she look even more beautiful this close up.

It was only then that Shizuru realised just _how _close their faces were. She could feel Natsuki's breath on her face and she watched as the other girl's gaze dipped down slightly before returning to her eyes. Natsuki was thinking about kissing her.

Her heart was now trying desperately to burst through her rib cage and she felt herself shaking slightly. She unconsciously licked her lips and then inched her head forward slowly, hoping that the movement would spur Natsuki into action. She didn't disappoint.

Within seconds she felt a pair of soft lips press against her own, sending a spark of electricity through her body. They simply stayed still for a few seconds before leaving again. But before Shizuru could even think about being disappointed they were back, this time with a little more force behind them. When those lips started to move tentatively against her own she released a breath she didn't know she was holding and responded into the kiss.

The kiss they had shared during the Carnival held nothing on this one. This kiss was different. It was not a kiss between friends but a kiss between two people who had deep feelings for each other.

The feeling was dizzying and Shizuru felt like she would float off if she let go of the younger girl's hips. The kiss soon ended but they didn't pull far apart, Shizuru lent her forehead against Natsuki's, their slightly accelerated breaths mingling between them. Both girls had their eyes closed and small but happy smiles on their faces.

Both were also seemingly happy with not moving for the time being, content with just being in each other's presence. Unfortunately, the moment was about to be broken...by Natsuki's mobile phone.

Natsuki literally jumped and tried to move out of the embrace...only to find that Shizuru had again wrapped her arms around her waist and was refusing to let go. She looked up at the slightly taller girl to find a mischievous expression on her face, though the slight blush on the now ex-Kaichou's cheeks took away some of the effect.

"Shi-Shizuru...would you mind...um" The heat coming from her own face was making words difficult it seemed,

"Yes, Na-tsu-ki?" The older girl practically giggled her name as Natsuki continued to struggle in the embrace,

"I need to answer my phone...so could you... let go of me for a second?" She managed around her blushing...she couldn't believe she had just kissed Shizuru!

"Never" The reply had been whispered in her ear and caused a rather embarrassing squeak to slip past the biker's lips. To avoid further embarrassment Natsuki simply turned around in the older girls arms and dug a hand into her jacket pocket to pull out her still ringing mobile, which she answered without looking at the caller I.D.

"What?" In her currently embarrassed state she found that she couldn't be civil,

"What the hell Kuga!" It was Nao,

"What do you want Yuuki?" Her voice was a little less hostile this time around and she found herself relaxing into the body behind her,

"Are you meeting Tokiha and the others? I'm on my way there now"

"And you want me there becauuuuse?" Oh how she loved to annoy Nao,

"I don't! But if I have to sit through a stupid picnic you do too!" The excuse was flimsy at best and it made Natsuki smirk,

"Right ok, if you say so. We're on our way now"

"We? You and the sna...Fujino you mean?" Natsuki was actually shocked that Nao had stopped herself from calling Shizuru _'the snake'_, but was grateful that the red head was making an effort,

"Yeah, why?"

"Nothing. I'll see you there then" The line went dead and Natsuki sighed.

"Is everything alright Natsuki?" The voice almost made her jump and she felt ridiculous for it...how did she forget Shizuru was there when the older girl's arms were still wrapped around her?

"Eh?" '_Wow Kuga, intelligent response there_' "I mean, yeah, I'm fine. We should get going, Mai's having a picnic or something" She felt Shizuru shift slightly behind her but she didn't make any indication of releasing her.

"Then let us go shall we?" Shizuru's voice still sounded giddy and the blunette had to admit she rather liked it that way.

"Ok, well, you're going to have to let go of me then" After a brief squeeze she felt the arms leave her waist and she turned to her friend..._'Are we just friends anymore...or are we...girlfriends? Bah, I don't know how this is supposed to work!'_ She heard a giggle and realised that it was coming from Shizuru. The older girl seemed to be glowing and Natsuki wouldn't have been surprised if the Kyoto born floated her way to where Mai was rather than walking. She was fairly certain that she was smiling at the sight, but it was hard to tell since she hadn't stopped smiling for a good few minutes now.

"Come on" She spoke as normally as she could, despite the blush that just _would not_ leave her face, but Shizuru's cheeks also still held a hint of pink so she could live with it. Before she started walking she bent down to pick up Shizuru's diploma, which she must have dropped again at some point, and handed it to the older girl.

"Ookini" Even in that one word Natsuki could tell just how happy Shizuru was and she wondered how the Kyoto born would act around the other girls...she really didn't think she could handle being teased by the entire group! Which was exactly what would happen if they found out what had just happened between the two of them!

* * *

><p>After a couple of minutes of walking they were almost at the field and both girls were trying to calm themselves. Natsuki was trying desperately to plaster a look of disinterest on her face, since she was sure that most people were used to seeing her like that. But it was proving to be rather difficult to do so, since every time she managed it she would be reminded of the girl beside her and either blush or grin like an idiot.<p>

Shizuru found it slightly easier to cover her emotions with her usual polite and pleasant mask. She had been doing so for so long it was like second nature...although she would admit that she was currently struggling to keep a wide smile off her face. People would think she were insane if she walked around smiling like that...and considering who she was about to be in the company of, looking insane probably wouldn't be favourable.

The older girl kept having to stop herself from drifting into thought, since she was sure if she allowed herself to do so that smile would split across her face in no time and she wouldn't even notice. It was difficult though...with Natsuki walking so close to her side she was constantly being reminded that the girl she was madly in love with had just kissed her. Natsuki had kissed _her! _Oh...happy days.

Natsuki heard familiar voices as they came to the tree line, beyond which lay the small field.

"Wait...are you wearing a bra?" Mai's voice. Natsuki stepped out into the clearing, her eyes easily finding the red head...and Mikoto, who was currently squeezing the aforementioned girl's breasts,

"Un! Natsuki gave it to me"

"Although, I don't think she really needs one just yet" Natsuki spoke, hoping to god that she sounded normal. Shizuru stood slightly behind the blunette and watched the animated conversation distractedly...her mind had wandered to Natsuki's particularly delightful taste in under wear. She heard Mikoto say something about one day having bigger breasts than Mai, which was followed by Mai trying to pull the girls shirt down...only to spot something and pull it away from the younger girl.

The Kyoto born was vaguely aware of Natsuki moving and so she followed behind her. They came to a large blanket, upon which they all made themselves comfortable. Apparently Nao and a whole host of other people had made their appearance and Shizuru had to fight the urge to scowl when Nao lay down beside Natsuki a little closer than she really needed to.

The feeling didn't last long though, since her attention soon drifted to her beloved's absolutely gorgeous face. She watched as various emotions flickered across the younger girl's features, small smiles and the occasional frown. It seemed a little backwards to her really...when she had first met Natsuki the girl had been all about the frowning and scowling, only on very rare occasions could a smile be found on the tough bikers lips. But things were different now; Natsuki had come out of her shell and was at last starting to actually enjoy life.

Natsuki truly was beautiful. And Natsuki smiling with genuine happiness was even more so. Her heart fluttered happily in her chest and for the first time in as long as she could remember she allowed it to do so. She didn't need to crush that feeling anymore. She did however need to reign it in slightly...she could tell by the way Mai had looked between the two of them that some of her internal happiness had spilled out on to her face. She tried to calm herself by sipping from the tea cup she had just realised she was holding.

She really wished that she could just let the emotions she was feeling show, she wanted everyone to see how happy she was in this moment but she couldn't. She was fairly certain that Natsuki wouldn't appreciate such a thing and as such she pulled her mask up more firmly and tried to concentrate on it a little more. This became a lot easier when she tore her eyes away from Natsuki's face and instead focused on what was going on outside her little bubble.

Youko had just joined the group and was currently making herself comfortable in between Reito and Aoi. Almost as soon as the school nurse was seated Mai began to read of a postcard. The post card was from Takumi and spoke of his surgery and that he would be able to return for the start of the next school year. Shizuru had no idea what the surgery was for, but was none the less, glad that it had been successful. Apparently Akira was with the younger Tokiha and had promised to take care of Mai's little brother.

Youko fished about in her bag for something and eventually pulled out a picture of Midori in the middle of some Indiana Jones-esc adventure. Several of the people around the blanket wondered _who_ had taken the picture but nobody commented on it.

Natsuki said something about it being a pretty normal thing to imagine their eccentric history teacher doing, and Nao wondered aloud if the professor Midori was with was just as insane. Shizuru was once again finding it difficult to concentrate on the conversation and was therefore only picking up on bits here and there.

Moments later and there was small outburst of people 'claiming Mai', which was of no real interest to the tawny haired girl. What the busty red head said next though did catch her attention,

"Well 'to like' is a good thing, right? Natsuki? Mikoto?" And to Shizuru's surprise Natsuki replied with a sound of agreement and a smile. Natsuki had definitely changed, that was for sure.

* * *

><p>They had spent another hour chatting away between themselves before Mai suggested that they get going to the Karaoke bar, much to Natsuki and Nao's displeasure.<p>

Once they had arrived at the brightly lit building and found their designated room the group had split up to sort out various different things. Natsuki and Nao made a bee line for the alcohol (provided by Youko) while Yukino and Akane sorted out the food. Everyone else made themselves comfortable on the two couches in the room, aside from Reito, Tate and Kazuya, who decided to be gentlemanly and sit on the floor.

Mai obviously busied herself with picking the first song she would sing on the karaoke machine and Chie figured out how to work the multicoloured lights hanging from the ceiling.

Shizuru just followed behind Natsuki since she wasn't really comfortable talking to anyone else there except for Reito...and even talking to him after the events of the Carnival sometimes seemed a little strange. But she didn't mind...even if she _did_ get on well with everyone in the room she would still rather be close to her blue haired best friend. _'Ara...I wonder if Natsuki will let me call her my girlfriend?' _The thought made her feel like giggling but she refrained from doing so.

"Kuga what the hell! Quit hogging the vodka will you!" Nao yelled, lunging for the bottle in Natsuki's hand,

"I don't see your name on it Yuuki so deal with it" Natsuki easily held the bottle out of reach due to her height advantage and continued to pour her drink in the air. Shizuru watched the pair with amused eyes,

"Well it doesn't have your name on it either! Besides, you're such a light weight even one drink would probably knock you out!"

"You're one to talk; I distinctly remember dragging you home the other night"

"That's because _I_ was actually drinking! While you were just hitting on Kenta!" Shizuru's eyes widened at this statement...surely she had heard that wrong,

"Huh? Kenta? Who's that?"

"Hah, nice try Kuga! You know damn well who I'm talking about!" From what the Kyoto born could see of Natsuki's face she could tell that the blunette was genuinely confused, which made her feel better...Until she saw the look of recognition flash across the girls features,

"Oh! Kenta, right. You spoke to him since that night?" The sudden change of direction didn't sit very well with Shizuru _or _Nao,

"No...Why?" The red head's tone was clearly suspicious, and with good reason if the grin on Natsuki's face was anything to go by,

"Oh, no reason" The biker quipped while talking a swig of her vodka and coke before finally handing the bottle to her shorter friend,

"What the hell did you say to him Kuga?" Nao snatched the bottle and Natsuki burst out laughing. With the way Nao was acting she realised that it was completely possible that the younger girl did in fact like the stupid boy she had met two days ago.

Shizuru watched the scene with mild confusion... did this mean that Natsuki _hadn't _'hit on' this Kenta person? She couldn't actually imagine Natsuki 'hitting' on anyone...it just wasn't a very Natsuki thing to do. She felt all these thoughts leave her mind however when the girl in question turned to face her, a wide grin still present on her face, mirth still swimming in her emerald eyes,

"You want a drink Shizuru?" The older girl's giddy mood returned to her and she found herself smiling,

"Ara, is Natsuki suggesting that I participate in underage drinking?"(3) She fought the urge to giggle again as Natsuki's eyebrow rose in response to her question,

"Shizuru, everyone here is underage, apart from Youko"

"We should not be drinking alcohol then should we?" She closed her eyes and smiled innocently at the biker, tilting her head to one side for added affect. Even though she could'nt see the other girl she knew that Natsuki had just rolled her eyes,

"You just graduated, live a little" Natsuki's tone was light and happy and Shizuru had to admit she wasn't quite used to it, nor was she used to the almost daring look in her shorter friend's eyes. She was not really a drinker, having only drank on a few occasions and she had never been drunk...but she was a Fujino, and Fujino's did not back down from a challenge.

"Ok, if Natsuki insists, I shall have whatever she is drinking" Natsuki's eyes twinkled with what looked like mischief and Shizuru suddenly wondered if she should have agreed to this.

Nao, who was stood just off to one side watched the interaction with interest. Her eyes flicked between her recently made friend and her enemy...something was going on. She could just tell...the way they looked at each other, with knowing smiles and lingering looks. She brought her drink to her lips and smirked into the glass. It certainly looked like Natsuki had found the courage to tell the Kyoto born how she felt.

She watched as Natsuki handed Shizuru a drink, how Shizuru brushed the younger girls fingers with her own when taking the glass, causing a blush to spread across the blunette's face. While this was not really unusual the fact that Natsuki hadn't all out panicked at the contact and spilt drinks everywhere was. The biker had a habit of making things worse for herself by having over the top reactions to such things and the absence of this behaviour was what clued Nao in.

"Hey! Natsuki, Nao-san, Kaichou-san!" Mai shouted across the room, causing the three girls to turn in that direction, "Come on, we're starting now!" Natsuki and Nao groaned simultaneously before dragging their feet towards the couches, Shizuru following slightly behind them.

When they reached the two pieces of well used furniture the two younger girls plopped themselves down into whatever empty space they could find. Nao ended up wedged between an over excited Aoi and a surprisingly calm Akane and promptly necked her drink before pulling out a stick of pocky and staring in annoyance at the 'stage'.

Natsuki had taken the opposite couch, between Youko and Mikoto and had unintentionally copied Nao's actions by downing the remainder of her vodka. She suddenly wondered where Shizuru had gotten to but once Mai started singing and the lights started flashing the only thought on her mind was '_Why am I here?'_ She brought a hand up to her head and then felt herself being practically tackled from behind,

"Gah!" Slender arms wrapped around her shoulders and she knew who they belonged to without looking behind her...but she did so anyway, giving the older girl a sheepish expression as she did. Shizuru smiled innocently at her,

"Natsuki makes such cute noises when she is startled" A light blush made its self known on her cheeks once again and she groaned, though there was a faint smile on her face. Shizuru truly did give the best hugs...possibly because she wasn't fond of anyone else even touching her...but still.

The blunette waited for Shizuru to pull out of the strange hug...but after a minute or so she realised that the older girl had no intention of doing so. She wanted another drink damn it! Plus she could _feel_ Nao looking at her with her smug, annoying face.

And so, when Mai _finally_ finished singing her stupid song the younger girl pulled out of the hold and quickly moved back the corner where the alcohol was waiting for her.

Shizuru chuckled lightly at the slight blush still present on Natsuki's face and followed the girl to the drinks. Her back was a little sore from holding that awkward hugging position but it had been worth it.

"Natsuki ikezu! Running away from me for alcohol" The Kyoto born idly wondered what had happened to her own drink but found that she didn't really care...she could easily tell Natsuki that she'd drank it and the girl would believe her, which would obviously mean that Natsuki would be a drink ahead without knowing it. It was perfect...no one would find out that the almighty Fujino Shizuru was a complete lightweight because once Natsuki started to get drunk she would refuse to drink anymore, claiming to be a caring friend who would look after the drunken biker.

* * *

><p>As the night wore on many songs were sung, several laughing fits were had and many more drinks were consumed. Shizuru had nipped to the toilet and when she returned she found herself just watching Natsuki rather than returning to her side.<p>

The blunette was currently stood next to the alcohol with Nao, Mai and Chie and appeared to be teasing the youngest girl about something. Nao's defiant voice made its way over the sound of Akane and Kazuya singing a duet and to Shizuru's ears,

"Like hell you can! Give me that!" The red head had then promptly grabbed the bottle of whatever Natsuki was holding and took a long swig from it... seconds later the younger girl was sputtering and complaining about the taste. Of course Natsuki was laughing loudly and the noise made a smile spread across Shizuru's lips.

"Congratulations on graduating, Shizuru-san" The voice was one that the Kyoto born easily recognised and she turned to face the dark hair boy who was now stood next to her,

"Ara, you to, Reito-san" The boy smiled charmingly at her and handed her a drink,

"Thank you. Although I admit I wasn't talking about graduating from school" There was a mischievous glint in his golden brown eyes and Shizuru raised an elegant eyebrow at him,

"Oh?" He smiled at her again before taking a swig of his drink and then motioning in the direction of a certain blue hair biker,

"Graduating from friends to lovers is much more exciting than graduating from high school, don't you think?" Shizuru had to admit she was shocked by Reito's perceptiveness but she hid it well by taking a swig of her own drink. She knew that the dark liquid in her glass was laced with vodka but she could no longer taste the foul liquor. When she brought the glass away from her lips she was smiling. She couldn't help it, being reminded of what had happened between her and Natsuki just made her feel so happy that it was impossible to _not_ smile,

"Ara, I'm glad Reito-san thinks so. I must say that I most certainly agree" She didn't bother to correct his assumption that they were 'lovers', since she was hoping that soon enough they would be just that. Her eyes shone with the happiness she was feeling and the boy before her flashed a genuine smile at her,

"I'm glad that you're happy, Shizuru-san, you deserve it" Despite the honorifics they used when referring to each other the two were most definitely friends. After spending so much time together during the school year due to their roles in the student council it would have been strange if they weren't, especially since they were rather similar.

Reito had picked up on Shizuru's feeling for Natsuki some time ago and was now truly glad to see that his friend was genuinely happy for the first time in quite a while. After everything that had happened over the past few months, what with the HiME festival and such, he had been worried that the tawny haired girl would hate him. And while things weren't quite as they had been before, for the most part their friendship had survived.

He watched as Shizuru turned her attention back to the corner of the room holding her most precious person. The Kyoto born's face held an intense look of love and Reito smiled to himself.

Shizuru watched as Natsuki, Mai, Nao and Chie held shot glasses up into the air, cheered and then downed the liquid in one fell swoop. The girls grimaced as the liquor burned their throats but they were soon smiling and chatting again. Then sparkling green eyes peered at her from the across the room and the Kyoto born beauty couldn't help but smile as Natsuki stated to make her way over.

The younger girls face was slightly red and when Natsuki stopped in front of her with an almost goofy grin Shizuru realised that it had been caused by the girl's slight intoxication.

"Ah, Kuga-san, are you enjoying yourself?" Reito smiled, causing Natsuki to look at him with disinterest,

"Yeah..." There was a pause and Natsuki realised that she should probably congratulate the boy, being that he was one of Shizuru's friends "Congrats and all that" She said monotonously before turning her attention back to Shizuru, who was smiling at her. Reito decided to leave them to it and made his way over to where Mai and the others were standing.

The biker could tell that Shizuru was tipsy, the red tinge to her cheeks and the way her eyes looked a bit un-focused gave it away and she couldn't help but be amused. Shizuru was more of a light weight than Nao. As far as she was aware the older girl was only on her third or fourth drink...whereas Nao was on her sixth. Yes Nao was currently falling over her own feet but that was likely caused by the shots they'd just had. _'Haha, Yuuki didn't think that I could drink her under the table...and now look at her...barely able to stand! Ahaha...'_

The sound of Shizuru giggling brought her out of her thoughts and she looked at the Kyoto born with a raised eyebrow and an amused smile,

"What's so funny?"

"Natsuki just looks so cute when she is wrapped up in her thoughts" That had to be like the fifth time Shizuru had called her cute that day and it never failed to redden Natsuki's cheeks. Which of course caused another giggle.

The blunette couldn't help but laugh at the giggling girl before her, Shizuru was definitely slightly drunk...although she guessed that the girl's happy mood probably contributed too. It may have been the alcohol but Natsuki suddenly found herself saying something that she would never usually have done,

"And Shizuru looks so cute when she's giggling" She mimicked the older girls way of speaking and felt triumphant when a blush spread across Shizuru's face, followed by a slight pout,

"Natsuki ikezu, saying such things out of the blue" Natsuki chuckled at the girls response.

* * *

><p>An hour or so later and the group were piling (or stumbling in some cases) out of the karaoke bar, laughing loudly and all in good spirits. They all said their goodbyes and set off in which ever direction they were heading. Most of them were staying in school dorms and so went in that direction, Reito took a cab to his apartment and Shizuru and Natsuki walked in the direction of the older girl's apartment.<p>

They walked in silence and Natsuki found that it was quite awkward. Probably because her thoughts were on a certain topic. She was nervous about what she was meant to do when they did make it to Shizuru's apartment...they were dating now...so she should give the older girl the obligatory 'good night kiss' right? She had already kissed Shizuru earlier that day so she didn't know why she getting so nervous about doing it again. It wasn't like she didn't want to kiss the older girl, far from it in actuality.

Natsuki was pulled from her thinking when she realised that Shizuru was swaying slightly, the alcohol having caught up to her. Before she could put an arm around the girls waist to steady her though Shizuru linked an arm through hers, hugging the limb to her chest a little as they walked. The blunette noticed the content look on Shizuru's face, along with the soft smile that was playing on her lips.

Lips that Natsuki most definitely wanted to feel against her own again. That kiss had been...amazing. She wasn't aware that a single, fairly simply kiss could make her feel so giddy...not that she had much experience of kissing mind.

They soon reached Shizuru's apartment and Natsuki chuckled when the Kyoto born fumbled with her keys. Of course once the door was opened with a click Natsuki felt herself become nervous once more.

Shizuru turned to look at her with a warm smile,

"Natsuki can stay here tonight. It is late and I do not want you to be walking home alone ok?" Natsuki hesitated although she wasn't sure why. Shizuru giggled _again _and before she could say something along the lines of 'Natsuki is so cute' the blunette just walked past her and into the house.

Once inside the blue haired girl found that she was exhausted. The almost sleepless night, the day's events and the alcohol caught up with her and she let herself fall on to the couch in Shizuru's living room.

"I do hope that Natsuki isn't planning on sleeping there" Shizuru's amused Kyoto-ben made Natsuki jump. She sat up on the couch and peered over the back of it at her friend,

"What do you...?" She trailed off when she took in Shizuru's face, there was a mischievous glint in her crimson eyes and she suddenly realised what the older girl was getting at,

"Well, Natsuki is my girlfriend now is she not?" Just hearing the word 'girlfriend' made Natsuki's cheeks burn and she fought the urge to yell at the Kyoto born. Shizuru hadn't been expecting a response so she continued,

"So she should be sleeping in my bed, with me of course" She smiled innocently at the younger girl, who's cheeks were a rather appealing shade of red, "I will keep my hands to myself I promise" She added causing Natsuki's face to turn almost purple,

"Shi-Shizuru! Why did you just say that!" Her voice was embarrassingly high pitched and she buried her head into hands. Shizuru just chuckled at her behaviour, she couldn't help it, she had hardly teased the biker all day. After allowing the girl to calm down a little Shizuru moved over to the couch, leaning her arms on the back of the furniture.

Natsuki looked up at her cautiously, expecting another tease to be thrown her way. Instead she saw that the mischievous look had vanished from Shizuru's face and had instead been replaced by a soft, affectionate expression.

"Please Natsuki" The blunette considered it for a moment. _'well...I guess it makes sense'_ She trusted Shizuru not to push her into anything and so she nodded her head. Shizuru's entire face brightened at the news and she spoke quietly "Ookini"

A few minutes later and the pair had changed into their sleep wear, Shizuru in a long silk robe and Natsuki in her usual baggy t-shirt and shorts. Natsuki was quick to dive under the covers of the double bed and lay her head on one of the pillows, Shizuru's scent invaded her senses almost immediately and she found herself smiling.

She heard Shizuru turn off the lights and make her way over to the bed, the mattress shifted slightly when the older girl got under the duvet and then there was silence.

A minute or so later Shizuru spoke, her voice quiet and unsure,

"Natsuki?" The blunette turned over to face the other girl and even in the darkness she could see the timid and slightly pleading look in her eyes "Would..." She faltered for a second before continuing "Could you hold me...please?" The request was almost a whisper and Natsuki found herself reacting to it almost instantly, even as a blush rushed to her cheeks.

She wasn't sure exactly what she was meant to do but she figured wrapping an arm around the girl's waist was a good place to start. Shizuru shimmied closer to her and snuggled her head under Natsuki's chin, her forehead touching the hot skin of the younger girl's neck.

The blunette felt as well as heard Shizuru's content sigh against her neck and smiled. Why hadn't she allowed herself to feel this way before? Being here with her arms wrapped around her most precious person just felt...right.

"Ookini, Natsuki. Goodnight" Shizuru's sleepy whisper made her smile widen slightly,

"Goodnight Shizuru"

* * *

><p>(1) – If you haven't heard this song YouTube it, it's epic :D (Profiteroles song)<p>

(2) – I really struggled to explain how Shizuru was feeling...those of you who have been in this sort of position before might get where I'm coming from though. Like you _know_ that its real but because you've spent so long thinking that it never would be real...It's just a really strange feeling, but a good one none the less XD

(3) – I _think_ the legal age to drink/buy alcohol in Japan is 20...I'm not sure though so if I'm wrong feel free to correct me :)

**AN: **Holy hell...26 pages D: That might not seem like a lot to some of you guys but it's a lot to me! I really wanted to get the entire graduation day done in this chapter, hence its length. I also know that the beginning was a bit random...and that I could really have just started at the graduation...but once I'd written it I didn't want to just delete it so it stayed XD

As for the rest of it...well...I'm not really happy with it to be honest but I re wrote it so many times that I just gave up XD I know Shizuru's reaction might seem a little subdued but she's still in a bit of shock...and I think it's a little more realistic this way anyway :) As for how Natsuki is acting...I guess she's just happy as well...and slightly drunk towards the end :P

Anyway, thank you all for reading, I would really appreciate some feedback as it does help to keep me motivated :) The next chapter _should_ be up within a few days...I could be wrong though since I only get Christmas day and Boxing Day off work and both days will be spent drinking :P

Oh and a belated happy birthday to Shizuru! Who turned...25? this year XD I don't know...but 25 sounds about right haha Anyway Merry Christmas everyone! Till next time,

~IlliterateKoi~


	5. Good Morning

**Disclaimer: **_Still _don't own them *cries in a corner*

**AN:** Thank you to everyone that took the time to leave me a review over the festivities (since I couldnt reply directly; Thank you to the anonymous reviewers!) :D I hope you all had a good'n! (And didn't get too drunk and wake up in someone else's house having no idea how you got there XD)

On to chapter 5, enjoy :)

* * *

><p>Barricade<p>

Chapter 5: Good Morning

_"I have said nothing because there is nothing I can say that would describe how I feel as perfectly as you deserve it"_

* * *

><p>Natsuki groaned quietly as per usual when she woke up. Her mind was still muggy with sleep and she vaguely remembered that yesterday had been a Friday...which meant that today was a Saturday and as such, she had no reason to get up.<p>

Not getting up and going back to sleep were two different things though and Natsuki had never been one to sleep the day away... she did enjoy just lazing in bed though, at least until she was forced to get up, usually by her growling stomach.

As her mind cleared from its sleep induced state she realised that she must have kicked the sheets off at some point in the night since she couldn't feel the soft material around her... there was however an unusual weight on the left side of her body. She suddenly recalled the previous day's events and a smile spread across her face. She didn't need to open her eyes to figure out what that weight was being caused by.

She was fairly certain that a few months...no even a few _weeks _ago being in the same bed as anyone else would have freaked her out. In fact she wouldn't have even entertained the idea of being in a bed with anyone else. But right now, she didn't mind it, actually it felt quite nice.

She lifted her right hand from her stomach and moved it over to the weight atop her, a smile tugging her lips upwards slightly as she felt silky hair under her fingertips. She finally opened her eyes and looked down her body. She saw a mess of tawny hair splayed out over her shoulder where the girl in her arms was resting her head.

Shizuru was curled up against her, one arm lay on the blunette's stomach while the other was tucked underneath the older girl's body. Judging by the girl's steady breathing the biker assumed that she was still asleep and when Natsuki brought her hand up to lightly brush some bangs out of Shizuru's face to reveal closed eyes and a peaceful face she was proven right.

She didn't have the best view of the Kyoto born's face, but she still thought that the older girl looked beautiful. Seconds after she had that thought a slight blush appeared on Shizuru's face, followed by a slight pout and furrowed brows. Natsuki almost felt like squealing at how adorable the ex-Kaichou looked in that moment. However, since she didn't do things like that, she settled for chuckling lightly.

She continued to watch the girls face as her brows furrowed further before relaxing again. Natsuki realised that the older girl was waking up when the arm on her stomach twitched slightly. A soft smile spread across Shizuru's lips as sleepy crimson flickered in to view.

Natsuki blushed as those red eyes moved up to meet her own. Busted.

"Ara, was Natsuki watching me sleep?" Shizuru's voice was husky with sleep and her cheeks held a light blush, though it had nothing on the one Natsuki was sporting,

"Eh?...err...I..you..." Natsuki stuttered before settling for nodding slightly. Shizuru was sure that her cheeks were flushed but she didn't mind. Natsuki had been watching her sleep...much as she had done several times when the younger girl had stayed at her house...though on those occasions the biker had been sleeping on the couch...whereas this time... They were in her bed

Shizuru felt her blush worsen slightly and dropped her head back on to Natsuki's shoulder to hide it. She had been worried that Natsuki would wake up in the middle of the night and leave. She wasn't sure why she had thought that but she had. Then, when she had woken just minutes ago and felt an arm wrapped around her waist and the warmth of a body beside her, her heart had soared.

Natsuki had told her that she was willing to try being in a relationship with her...and the blunette was here, in her bed, holding her like it was a normal thing to do. Even when she had teased the younger girl, Natsuki hadn't pulled her arms away or tried to move out of the embrace.

A wave of un-containable happiness washed over her and she found that she just could not keep it all inside. She would most definitely explode. And so, she did the only thing she could think of to prevent her impending doom. She laughed. It started as a small, almost giggle but quickly became a full on, tear inducing laugh.

Natsuki had been startled by the laughter at first, but soon found herself chuckling lightly,

"What's so funny?" She asked, craning her neck to try and see the older girls face. Shizuru didn't reply at first, too busy laughing into Natsuki's shoulder, not that the biker minded. In fact, she found that for the time being she didn't really care _why_ Shizuru was laughing. The sound made her heart flutter and she soon found that she was laughing along with her best friend. Shizuru's laughter was addictive.

After another minute or so of the seemingly random laughing fit Shizuru started to calm down, though a smile still graced her lips. She moved back slightly so that she could look at Natsuki properly without putting her neck in an awkward position.

The younger girl was smiling widely at her, mirth swimming in her deep emerald orbs,

"Well? What was so funny?" Natsuki asked, her amusement evident in her voice,

"I don't know" The pair couldn't help but chuckle again for a moment. Natsuki took in Shizuru's face since she finally had a good view and the butterflies in her stomach fluttered at the sight.

Even with her hair in slight disarray and an almost goofy smile on her face Shizuru was stunning. She had always liked Shizuru's eyes, at first it had simply been because of their unusual colour. But she had soon realised that despite the well maintained mask the older girl almost always had up, she could never quite remove the emotion in her eyes.

Over time she had become adept at figuring out how the older girl was really feeling by staring in to those deep rubies. Obviously much of the time Shizuru would not allow her to stare for too long, no doubt knowing that her mask could not always reach her eyes.

Of course Natsuki didn't claim to be an expert on reading people, and Shizuru was no exception, after all, she hadn't been able to pick out that loving look in her friends eyes. She was however fairly certain that she was one of very few people who could read Shizuru even when her mask was firmly in place, most of the time.

Looking in to those eyes now she saw that love she had somehow missed for so long, along with the happiness that had, she assumed, caused the laughing fit earlier. There was also a hint of anxiousness and Natsuki wondered what the girl had to be worried over.

Shizuru was indeed feeling a little nervous. She had stared directly into the younger girls eyes, knowing full well that the biker would be able to read her like a book. She had to fight the urge to pull her mask up and/or look away.

But of course, allowing Natsuki to stare in to her eyes also meant that she could stare back in to those dazzling emeralds. Un-like Natsuki she _was_ an expert at reading people, in actual fact her ability to read people was what had first drawn her to pursue a friendship with the brash and rude blunette years ago.

She had spotted a girl in the school gardens and had stopped to see what the middle schooler was doing when she should be in class. She remembered saying something about not crushing flowers and then the girl had spun around to look at her. Those green eyes were not as bright as they were now. In fact they had seemed quite dull and Shizuru had read the emotions from them in an instant.

Anger was the most prominent of the emotions swirling dangerously in the girls eyes. Having that anger directed towards her had shocked her in all honestly, but she had not let it show. There was also a deep rooted pain in those eyes and Shizuru wondered what had happened to the young girl that would cause such anger towards a complete stranger.

Then there was the loneliness she saw. Despite the words and actions of the middle schooler she was a very lonely child who would have liked to grab hold of somebody and pull them closer rather than push them away.

Over the next few weeks Shizuru had spotted the blunette around the school grounds, not once did she see the younger girl with anyone. And nobody seemed to bother with the girl either. At the time that had really confused Shizuru, usually when somebody was clearly quite beautiful people would flock to them.

And Natsuki had been beautiful back then, just as she was now. It wasn't that Shizuru was shallow, she just understood that most of the time it was a pretty face that drew people's interest. That was why she had so many followers wasn't it? Because she had a pretty face?

Of course, having people flock around you did not equate to you being any less lonely. Not one of the people that followed her around like sheep meant a thing to Shizuru. She hadn't known them and they certainly hadn't known her. She too, like Natsuki, had been lonely.

And so, she decided to try and befriend the gruff and rude young girl, both to sate her curiosity and to hopefully fend off her own loneliness.

Now, Natsuki's eyes were different. They were bright and more often than not told of more positive emotions. Of course there were times when that lonely look would return, but that intense anger had dissipated. Looking in to those beautiful emeralds now Shizuru saw affection and happiness. But it was the lack of regret or discomfort that made Shizuru's heart flutter happily in her chest. With those things absent it certainly seemed like this was what Natsuki wanted, she wasn't just doing this out of pity.

She smiled softly at the younger girl, who blushed slightly and then glanced around the room. At first Shizuru wondered what the girl was searching for, but she soon realised what it would be. Instead of helping the younger girl by pointing out where the object was she merely allowed the girl to find it herself.

It didn't take long for Natsuki to find the small clock next to Shizuru's bed and laugh at what she saw.

"What time is it?" Shizuru yawned, stretching slightly as she did so though she quickly returned to her previous position, her head resting on Natsuki shoulder while her left hand busied its self by drawing patterns on the girl's stomach through the thin fabric of her t-shirt.

"Half ten" Natsuki could imagine the pout and frown that had just appeared on Shizuru's face, which had been the cause of her small chuckle moments earlier.

See, it was a virtually unknown truth that Fujino Shizuru, the mighty Kaichou and perfect student was not one for getting up early. Not that half past ten would be classed as early by most, but to Shizuru it was far too early...especially for a Saturday! If left on her own the Kyoto born would happily sleep until at least 2 o'clock in the afternoon.

It always made Natsuki laugh, since people thought _her_ to be the late raiser out of the two them. Most people seemed to believe that Shizuru woke naturally at about 6 in the morning. In fact, that was more of a Natsuki thing to do, since she had been getting up early for many years due to the little 'missions' she would go on.

True, she rarely showed up to school before noon but back then that was usually because she was busy trying to avenge her mother's death. Of course she would also skip classes when she wasn't away doing such things, she still bunked off now. Obviously if you have a TV, game console or hell even a damn bouncy ball it was far more entertaining than school!

Shizuru draped her arm across Natsuki's stomach, holding the girls waist as she did so and shifted one of her legs over the other girls. She _really _didn't want to get up. Not just because she was tired but because she was so comfortable and well, why _would_ she want to get up when the girl she had loved for so long was willingly laying in bed with her?

Shizuru's movement had a different effect on Natsuki. She suddenly became very aware of their positions...and what they wearing. Or more like, what Shizuru was wearing. The older girl had a white silk robe wrapped around her frame, and it covered her for the most part. But when Shizuru had moved her leg and placed it over one of her own the bottom of the robe had ridden up, revealing the creamy skin of the girl's calf and lower thigh.

The skin there looked softer than the silk of the robe and Natsuki wanted to reach out and brush her fingers across it to see if that was indeed the case. In fact, there were several other areas of skin that she wouldn't have minded touching... just having that thought made her cheeks flush red and she promptly shifted her gaze to the other side of the bed.

"Erm, Shizuru...we should..." She coughed, trying to remove the blush from her face, of course it didn't work "We should, get up" Shizuru lifted her head, ready to pout and snuggle in to the blunette. That was until she saw the deep blush on the girl's face._ 'Why is she...?' _As if out of nowhere she felt cold air against the skin of her left leg and looked down _'Ara...'_ So that was it. She smiled innocently at the younger girl,

"Why does Natsuki want to get up? It is a Saturday is it not?"

"Well...I dunno...I mean, yeah it's Saturday but...I just..."

"Does Natsuki not want to spend time with me?" Shizuru pouted "Natsuki ikezu!"

"What? No! That's not it! It's just I...ah...you" Natsuki stuttered for the second that morning, and for pretty much the same reason...she really needed to stop staring if she didn't want to end up in this state. Shizuru was still pouting,

"What is it then Natsuki?" The older girl was desperately trying not to giggle, Natsuki just looked so cute! Especially when she was blushing furiously and averting her eyes, as she was doing now,

"It's just...you um...your leg" Natsuki felt like her head was about to explode from the amount of blood that had rushed to it.

"What about my leg? Is there something wrong with it?" There was a slight quiver in Shizuru's voice and Natsuki snapped her eyes to the girls face, where she was met with a pout and watery crimson eyes,

"No! There's absolutely nothing wrong with it! It's a very nice leg!" Natsuki hurriedly explained...to which Shizuru burst out laughing,

"Ara, I am glad Natsuki thinks so"

"Shizuruuuuuu" The biker whined. She _always_ fell for it! She didn't even know why she was freaked out by it; it was just a leg after all! It wasn't like she was seeing Shizuru naked or anything...cue Natsuki turning almost purple.

The blunette literally rolled out from underneath the older girl, just about managing to catch herself before she face planted the floor, and promptly ran from the room and in to the bathroom, leaving a rather amused Kyoto born behind.

* * *

><p>Shizuru had remained in bed for another 5 minutes or so, a smile never leaving her face. Perhaps she should have been disheartened by Natsuki's reaction but she couldn't bring herself to be.<p>

Natsuki was not very comfortable with anything sexual and even though there wasn't anything particularly sexual about a leg the older girl knew that it was likely Natsuki's thoughts pertaining to her leg that had caused the reaction.

So with that in mind, she certainly wasn't going to worry over Natsuki running out of the room in embarrassment. Natsuki had been looking at her leg, and thinking about doing something to it, that was enough for the older girl...for now anyway. She would be patient, she had been patiently waiting for years, it was no big deal. Though obviously the sooner Natsuki got over it the better.

She had gotten dressed in to the casual clothing she only ever really wore when in the confines of her own home. A simple pair of jeans and a red jumper, it may not be the clothing most people saw her in but it was definitely what she felt most comfortable in. She envied Natsuki sometimes for being able to dress so casually all the time. Even at school Natsuki managed to incorporate some of her casual clothing in to her uniform by wearing her hoodie under her jacket.

Now sat on the couch in the general living space of her apartment Shizuru wondered when Natsuki would re appear. She had heard the spray of water from the shower earlier but it had stopped a few minutes ago. Taking a sip from her tea Shizuru suddenly realised that Natsuki would probably need something to wear.

Of course, since the young biker used to stay at Shizuru's apartment a fair bit she had clothes there, but they were kept in Shizuru's bedroom and since the girl hadn't taken any clothes with her when she'd made her quick exit from the bedroom earlier it meant that she would need to make her way from the bathroom to the bedroom wearing nothing but a towel.

The thought made Shizuru smile in to her cup. She could have so much fun with that. She could already imagine the blush on Natsuki face as she said something along the lines of 'Ara ara, they have gotten bigger again haven't they?' No doubt the younger girl would yell at her, blush madly and then slam a door in her face. It would all be very amusing.

But for some reason Shizuru hesitated in actually getting up to execute the tease. Maybe it was because she had already teased the girl in to running away once that day already. She didn't want to make Natsuki so uncomfortable that the girl would leave the apartment, which was a possibility if she teased her too much.

But still...the opportunity was just too good to miss. Perhaps a small tease would be ok. She couldn't resist the pull and this time she did get up. After stealthily making her way down the small corridor leading to her room and the bathroom she waited silently. Her ears picked up some rustling from behind the bathroom door and she spoke in an almost sing-song voice,

"Is Natsuki ok in there?" The rustling stopped,

"Y-yeah, I'm fine...why are you outside the door?" Natsuki already sounded suspicious and this only caused the Kyoto born to chuckle lightly,

"Well, Natsuki was taking so long I was beginning to think she had fallen down the toilet"

"What? Shizuru that's stupid! I was just having a shower!"

"Natsuki ikezu, calling me stupid for worrying about her safety" She sniffed, hoping that the younger girl would hear it,

"Don't start, I know you're putting it on" Came the monotone voice and Shizuru could imagine that Natsuki was scowling at the wooden door between them "Anyway, I'm fine. You can go back to whatever it was you were doing" Although mildly disappointed that Natsuki hadn't fallen for her trick Shizuru chuckled again,

"Ok, are you almost done?"

"Yeah, I'll be out soon" Once she had gotten her reply Shizuru remained silent, not moving from her spot on the other side of the door. The rustling returned for a few seconds before Natsuki's voice came through the door again,

"Shizuru? Are you still there?" It was said quietly, in a way that it would only be heard if someone were standing close to the door...just as Shizuru was doing, but she didn't reply.

Deeming it safe to leave the bathroom Natsuki unlocked the door and opened it...

"Aah! Shi-Shizuru!" The Kyoto born smiled innocently at the towel clad blunette, who had turned beet red and very quickly slammed the bathroom door closed again "G-go away!" Shizuru laughed, Natsuki's voice was high pitched due to her embarrassment,

"Ara, Natsuki I was just going to ask if you wanted me to get a change of clothes for you" She didn't bother to keep the amusement out of her voice; the younger girl would have heard her laughter anyway.

Natsuki for her part was glaring at the bathroom door, her cheeks burning uncomfortably. She considered what Shizuru was saying...she was well aware that the older girl had stayed outside the door just to tease her...but she _did_ need clothes. And she wasn't sure her body would continue to work if any more blood rushed to her face, which would most definitely happen if she tried to make it to Shizuru's room in her towel.

She cursed herself for not having the forethought to grab clothes before taking a shower...but she had made a quick getaway, there hadn't been time! But even in her current situation she didn't want to give Shizuru an opening to tease her further, which the older girl likely would if Natsuki sent her to get clothes.

Besides...they were...girlfriends now right? So, she shouldn't mind if Shizuru saw her body. She had wanted to see more of the Kyoto born's body earlier so she couldn't really say anything about it could she?

Perhaps she should just stop acting like a child and leave the bathroom, she had a towel around herself after all. She had worn bikinis around Shizuru before and they covered less flesh than the towel did! With that in mind Natsuki reached out for the door handle...but stopped before her fingers could wrap around the metal.

Yes, Shizuru had seen her in swimwear before...but they had just been friends back then...now they weren't just friends, so Shizuru might not feel the need to hold herself back. She tried to convince herself that as much as Shizuru liked to tease her, the older girl would never do something she wasn't ready for...would she?

Her modesty warred with her attempt at reason for quite some time, leaving Shizuru to wonder what was going on. The tawny haired girl was still awaiting her answer, did Natsuki want her clothes or not? Part of her hoped that the younger girl would say yes, so that she could pick out something from her own wardrobe and make the girl wear it. But a bigger part of her wanted the blunette to decide that she could easily make it to the bedroom without exposing too much skin.

Of course Shizuru didn't think there was such a thing as Natsuki revealing too much skin...she would be ecstatic if the younger girl decided to walk around naked. This would never happen though and so she would have to make do with seeing the girl in a towel. She couldn't help thinking like that...there was nothing wrong with wanting to see the person you love sans clothing anyway right? Right!

Still, her thoughts from earlier came back, she didn't want to push Natsuki too far. She could have gotten away with this a few weeks ago but she wasn't sure it was a good idea right now. Not when everything was going so well...she didn't want to push her luck.

"Natsuki, I'm going to go and prepare us some breakfast alright?" See resigned herself to that fact that Natsuki obviously wasn't comfortable enough to leave the bathroom with her standing there and so she decided to just leave the girl to get ready on her own. There would plenty of time for seeing the younger girl's body anyway...or so she hoped.

Natsuki didn't respond to the comment and instead raised a brow at the door; she hadn't been expecting that at all. Usually Shizuru would wait as long as necessary to tease her, in fact the older girl usually preferred it when her teases could be dragged out.

Once she was sure the Kyoto born was no longer outside the door Natsuki made her way quickly in to the bedroom, half expecting Shizuru to pop out from somewhere. She could hear the clattering of pots though she knew the older girl was in the kitchen.

As she got dressed her thoughts drifted back to Shizuru's sudden change of heart with her teasing. It was rather unusual. She sat down on the edge of Shizuru's bed while pulling a brush through her damp hair.

Perhaps she had upset the older girl. It seemed a pretty logical conclusion to her. She was aware that Shizuru had been in love with her for quite some time, and as she had recently discovered, when you felt that way for someone there were certain..._things _that you wanted to do with them. She knew she was blushing and dragged the brush through her hair roughly in annoyance.

She too wanted to see more of Shizuru's body, and touch it. She had never really been interested in those types of things before, but she _did_ have a sex drive buried somewhere and apparently now that she had opened herself up to the idea of being in a relationship her body decided to make her aware of these things.

So, if that was the case why had she acted in such a way? She had pretty much freaked out earlier on about Shizuru's leg... and then she had refused to let Shizuru see her in a towel, which had covered most of her body anyway. She could totally see how that would upset the older girl. The biker threw the hairbrush onto the bed and dropped her head in to her hands, why was she always so awkward and embarrassed about these things? It made this ten times harder than it needed to be.

"Natsuki? Are you alright?" Shizuru's voice made the blunette jump and she looked up with shocked eyes to find Shizuru stood at the bedroom door, worry showing clearly in her crimson eyes. _'Nice one, Kuga. You've made her worry...again'_

"Yeah, I'm fine..." She paused and then looked at the carpeted floor below her feet, "Are you?"

"Why would I not be ok?" Shizuru was confused. She had left it a decent amount of time before using the bathroom, brushing her teeth and then walking to her bedroom to tell the blunette that breakfast was ready. Only to find the aforementioned girl with her head in her hands, something that she only did when she was having trouble with her thoughts...or when she was severely embarrassed.

When Natsuki had looked up she had seen the unsure and slightly frustrated look in those emerald eyes and it had worried her. And then Natsuki had asked if she was ok. She had been perfectly fine...now she was getting a little scared. Natsuki wasn't having second thoughts was she?

"Well...because...How I acted before...I didn't mean to..." Natsuki was looking at the floor and her body was tense. "I'm sorry if I upset you" Her voice was quiet and Shizuru realised that Natsuki was probably beating herself up over her reaction earlier. She suddenly felt a little guilty for teasing the girl so much. The older girl knew what she needed to do and moved forward to comfort the blunette.

Once she reached Natsuki she knelt on the floor in front of her and extended her right arm, using her finger to lift the girls face so she could gaze in to her eyes. She waited for Natsuki's eyes to meet her own before she spoke,

"Natsuki hasn't done anything wrong, so no, I am not upset" Her voice was soft and she smiled affectionately at the girl before her "I am sorry for teasing". Natsuki felt her muscles relax and she allowed herself to smile a little.

She then shocked the older girl by reaching out and pulling her in to an embrace. Shizuru felt the strong arm's wrap around her shoulders, pulling her forward in to the soft body of the younger girl. She quickly got over the shock and relaxed in to the hug, resting her head on Natsuki's chest and wrapping her own arms around the girl's waist.

"I guess I'm over thinking again aren't I?" Natsuki spoke quietly in to chestnut hair with a small chuckle. Shizuru pulled out of the embrace slightly so that she could look in to the emerald eyes she loved so much and place her hand on a slightly pink cheek,

"You wouldn't be the Natsuki I love so much if you didn't" The younger girls cheeks reddened more at the words but she didn't pull away, instead she simply smiled timidly at her. Shizuru found herself glancing quickly at Natsuki's lips; she wanted desperately to feel them against her own again.

Her gaze rose back to Natsuki's eyes and she saw a hint of nervousness there, probably because she had noticed where the Kyoto born's eyes had been seconds earlier. She wondered if the younger girl would mind if she kissed her. She didn't think she would...but she didn't want to push her, especially not when the girl was obviously having some trouble dealing with some things at the moment.

Well, she would only know if it was acceptable if she tried it right? She certainly wasn't going to ask...although she had no doubt that the younger girl's reaction to her asking would be highly amusing.

She felt a nervous flutter in her stomach as she edged her face forward, her eyes watching for the slightest hint that Natsuki didn't want to her to do this. When no such reaction was forthcoming she let her eyes fall shut and closed the gap between their lips.

She felt a puff of air against her face from Natsuki but the younger girl didn't pull away. In fact she responded favourably by pushing back against her lips softly. Shizuru slowly began to move against the soft lips pressed against her own, delighting in the taste of them. Natsuki soon began to mimic her movements and she shivered slightly from the sensation.

Upping the ante she opened her mouth a little before bringing her tongue out to lick across the younger girls bottom lip. Natsuki shuddered lightly at the unexpected action and instinctively opened her mouth.

Shizuru moaned softly as her tongue was granted entrance and she deepened the kiss, her hands moving up to tangle in Natsuki's blue locks as the younger girls tongue met her own. The dizzy feeling from the day before returned and she felt a wave of heat roll through her chest.

Natsuki felt like her heart was about to burst out of her chest as she moved her lips and tongue in time with Shizuru's. This kiss was different than the one they had shared the day before, it was deeper and she could tell that Shizuru had held back last time. She moved one hand up from the older girls shoulder and threaded her fingers through chestnut hair, her other hand finding the curve of the older girls neck, which pulled another soft moan from Shizuru's throat. The sound caused Natsuki's body to heat up and she shivered at the feeling.

All too soon the need for air pulled them apart and they stared at each other, gasping and with matching blushes. Natsuki took in Shizuru's face, from her slightly parted, smiling lips to her flushed cheeks and finally to her deep crimson eyes, which seemed to have darkened slightly and were swirling with emotion. The older girls eyelids dropped down to cover her eyes from view though and a content expression washed over her face. She looked happy and Natsuki was once again hit by just how beautiful Shizuru was.

Once she had regained her composure Shizuru opened her eyes again and smiled softly at the girl before her,

"I came to tell you that breakfast was ready but I think it will be cold now" She chuckled lightly and Natsuki smiled sheepishly at her,

"Sorry about that" Shizuru stood up and brushed down the front of her jeans to remove any fluff that may have been there from the carpet,

"Not at all, I would rather have been kissing my Natsuki than eating breakfast anyway" She smiled innocently at the blushing girl, closing her eyes and tilting her head for maximum effect. Natsuki groaned in response before getting up striding past the ex-kaichou, heading for the kitchen. Shizuru chuckled again to herself before following.

* * *

><p>Breakfast had consisted of mostly cold eggs and toast. Neither girls were particularly skilled in the cooking department and so they mainly ate fairly simple foods. There was no way Natsuki would trust Shizuru to prepare a traditional Japanese breakfast... and if the older girl <em>did<em> prepare such a thing Natsuki sure as hell would not be eating it.

After breakfast they had moved to the couch in the living area, made themselves comfortable and then immersed themselves in the wonder of TV dramas. Well, Shizuru did...Natsuki busied herself by playing on her phone.

The tawny haired girl stared attentively at the screen while sipping her tea. She secretly loved these sappy romance dramas and Natsuki was the only person who knew. She had tried in vain to get the blunette interested as well but the biker would have none of it. To her credit though, she did try and sit through a couple of episodes before writing it off as a waste of time.

So, now the 17 year old would distract herself from the 'ridiculous TV shows' by playing games on her phone. After about 10 minutes Shizuru could tell that the younger girl was getting frustrated with whatever game she was playing...not that it was subtle annoyance or anything,

"Yeah right! This is meant to be a physics based game! As if that stupid pig wouldn't be crushed under that much rubble!" (1) Natsuki grumbled while glaring at the screen of her phone. Shizuru chuckled,

"Is Natsuki perhaps having some trouble with her game?" She didn't look away from the screen while she spoke, still wanting to follow the drama,

"It's stupid! I don't even know why I play it!" The blunette huffed...but continued to play the game. The pair were silent for a minute or two before Natsuki broke it once again,

"Arrggg! What the hell!" This time Shizuru did turn to look at the younger girl, who was gripping her phone tightly and glaring at it in concentration. Shizuru giggled,

"Natsuki is so cute when she is concentrating" The biker pinked slightly at the comment and rolled her eyes at the older girl before returning to the game...only to tut loudly.

"Would Natsuki mind if I had a go?" Natsuki turned to face her, eyebrow raised in apprehension, "Ara, does Natsuki not think I would be able to play? Or perhaps she thinks that I will beat her high score?" She smirked and was surprised when Natsuki chuckled at her,

"That's not it...I'm just surprised that you would want to play" The blunette said while passing her phone over to the older girl. Shizuru took the phone and held to sideways in both hands, having seen Natsuki hold it that way before. She knew that Natsuki was watching her as she prodded the screen with her thumb, trying to figure out how to play. Despite her rather passive appearance she was actually quite competitive and as such she would not ask Natsuki to explain the controls.

She quickly figured out the controls and what she was meant to be doing and set about completing the level after she noticed that there was no high score to beat.

Natsuki watched with amusement as Shizuru concentrated on the device, obviously determined to complete the level. She almost laughed when Shizuru huffed, clearly starting to get frustrated at the game, much as she had minutes ago. The Kyoto born was now scowling slightly at the screen and Natsuki was about to laugh when the scowl disappeared and was replaced by a triumphant look.

Shizuru turned to face Natsuki, holding the phone up so that the younger girl could see the screen,

"See, nothing to get worked up over" She smiled sweetly but got a reaction she wasn't expecting,

"Haha, thanks Shizuru, I've been stuck on that level for ages" Natsuki took the phone back and since she knew she had just deflected the older girls boast she stuck her tongue out childishly. Shizuru pouted at her best friend,

"Natsuki ikezu, not even letting me boast about being better than she is"

"Hey now, come on, you may have beat that level but that doesn't mean you're better than me" She smirked while Shizuru sighed and turned her attention back to the drama. It wasn't long before her mind started to wonder though, in particular she was thinking about what she and Natsuki were to each other now. She knew that she shouldn't worry about such things, but she wanted to define their relationship. She needed to know that Natsuki was on the same wavelength as her otherwise she knew that her insecurities would creep up and ruin her mood.

"Natsuki?" The blunette, who had returned to playing her game made a sound to show that she was listening...albeit distractedly, "What are we now?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" She still wasn't paying attention and Shizuru sighed,

"I mean, if people were to ask what you were to me, what would I tell them? That you are my best friend? Or my girlfriend?" _That_ got the bikers attention and she turned to look at the older girl, who was still staring at the TV screen.

"Um...well...does it matter what other people think?" Shizuru sighed again and turned to face her,

"I suppose it doesn't but...I would like to know" Natsuki sighed herself now, she knew that this would come up and seeing the pleading look in Shizuru's eyes made her feel bad for what she was about to say,

"I guess that we're girlfriends now" She blushed lightly and was thankful when Shizuru didn't comment on it. The older girl was too preoccupied to do so; she could sense a 'but' coming "But..." and there it was "would you mind if we...you know, didn't tell people just yet?" Natsuki shifted her gaze to her phone, though she didn't return to her game, she just didn't want to see the disappointment on Shizuru's face.

Shizuru had been expecting such a thing in all honesty, and although she was mildly disappointed she was happy enough that Natsuki had confirmed that they were in fact 'girlfriends'. She smiled and placed her hand on the blunette's forearm, urging the girl to look at her,

"Ookini. If Natsuki would like us to wait to tell people that is fine" She paused as Natsuki smiled at her "As long as you promise me that we will be able to tell people eventually" The bikers smile didn't falter like Shizuru had expected and she actually saw the younger girls expression soften,

"Ok, I promise. Thanks Shizuru. I just need some time to get used to this myself, you know? I do want to tell people eventually" The Kyoto born smiled back, she could live with that. She knew that Natsuki would need some time to adjust, until then she could make do with knowing that Natsuki was her girlfriend and she would be able to show her off to people at some point in the future. She felt her heart flutter happily in her chest and her stomach flip slightly. She giggled, much to Natsuki amusement,

"Laughing to yourself again Kaichou-san? Not that I mind of course, you're rather cute when you giggle like that" Shizuru was surprised by the comment and almost blushed...oh she couldn't have that. There was only one thing for it; a counter tease!

"Ara, well if..."

"Oh come on! Let me have this one victory will you!" Natsuki cut her off with a smirk. And Shizuru could nothing but blush in response. The younger girl chuckled again before returning to her game, leaving Shizuru to recover, pout and then turn her attention back to the TV drama...which she had lost track of so she had no idea what was going on. _'Natsuki no ikezu'_

Her thoughts weren't helping her to catch on to what was happening in the drama anyway, and she found herself drifting in to her mind again. Natsuki had just said, rather calmly and without blushing too badly, that they were girlfriends. The younger girl had just openly admitted that she was indeed on the same wavelength as Shizuru. The giddy feeling from earlier took hold once more and Shizuru felt herself smiling. She did nothing to hide it, why should she? She was happy and she was in the presence of the person that had made her feel that way.

She turned to look at Natsuki, who was once again glaring at her phone, pouting slightly as the game refused to do what she wanted it to. She looked incredibly cute and Shizuru found that her giddiness caused her to be rather silly. She practically pounced on the younger girl. Tackling her in to the side of the couch, her arms wrapped around the toned body and her head snuggling in to the crook of the girls neck.

"Gah! Shi-Shizuru!" Natsuki was surprised to say the least, one second she had been lining up her next shot and the next she was being tackled from the side. Her arms had flailed about for a few seconds until she realised that the older girl was just hugging her. She chuckled at Shizuru's antics before returning the hug. She could definitely get used to Shizuru being this happy.

* * *

><p>They had spent the remainder of the morning and most of the afternoon simply lazing around watching TV and the screen was now filled by some romance film that Shizuru insisted they watch.<p>

"Oh come on, Shizuru this is stupid! We all know that he's gunna end up with the girl in the end anyway! God knows why though, he's fucking stupid!"

"Must you swear so much Natsuki" Shizuru scolded,

"Says you" The younger girl mocked, knowing full well that when stressed out Shizuru could swear like a trooper,

"Yes, says me. I do not swear" Shizuru stated, deadly serious, which caused Natsuki to laugh,

"Riiiight, I take it you don't remember when you thought you were going to fail your English exam then?"

"I do not know what Natsuki is talking about" She played coy, she honestly hadn't expected Natsuki to remember that,

"Of course you don't. Let me remind you then, I distinctly remember you calling your English teacher a useless sack of shit who could suck your..."

"OK!"

"Ahahahaha!" Natsuki laughed almost manically as Shizuru covered her ears. The scene was indeed comical, but was sadly cut short by the sound of ringing. Natsuki, who was still laughing, looked around for the device creating the noise. Having found it down the side of the sofa she answered it, her amusement still evident in her voice,

"Hello?"

"_Natsuki? Are you ok?"_ It was Mai,

"Yeah, I'm fine. What's up?" She had to suppress another laugh as Shizuru glared at her,

"_Um, I was just wondering what time you're going to get back? I made you dinner...are you sure you're ok? You sound weird"_ Mai sounded confused and the blunette chuckled down the phone,

"I'm sure. And erm, I'll be back in a little while..." She didn't really want to leave but she knew that realistically she had to.

"_Right ok, I'll leave the food in the microwave then. I've got to go to work so please don't be too long otherwise Mikoto might get bored and wreck the place"_ Natsuki heard Mikoto deny that in the background and smirked,

"Alright, thanks Mai, later" Ever the polite one she didn't wait for Mai to respond and simply ended the call. She then turned to face Shizuru who had been looking at her throughout the conversation, "Mai wants me to watch Mikoto so I'm gunna have to go soon" She said nonchalantly. She felt awkward telling Shizuru that she had to leave, whereas usually she would just stand up, say 'I'm leaving' and off she would go.

Shizuru, although disappointed that she would soon be without her favourite biker understood that it couldn't be helped. Plus, she could tell that Natsuki didn't particularly want to leave anyway. She nodded at the younger girl with a smile and then turned back to the TV. Silence settled over them and it was Shizuru that eventually broke it,

"When do the extra classes start?" Spring break lasted roughly 4 weeks so Shizuru assumed that the makeup classes would be starting soon.

"I get this week off and then I have to spend the rest of the break in classes" Natsuki groaned, sinking further in to the couch at the reminder of how she was going to be spending the break. Shizuru chuckled,

"Well, Natsuki will have to work extra hard to make sure that she passes. And she will also have to make sure to attend classes next year"

"Yes, yes. I'm not planning to repeat _another_ year" Like hell she was going to end up in the same year as Nao! This talk of school and spring break reminded her of something else though, something that she _really _needed to ask Shizuru,

"Hey, Shizuru?" The Kyoto born raised a brow at the sudden change in her girlfriend's behaviour. Natsuki had gone from brooding to nervous in mere seconds,

"Yes Natsuki?"

"I was wondering...where are you, um, going to university?" Shizuru smiled softly at the girl before her,

"I'm going to Fuuka" She could almost see Natsuki's body relax and she definitely heard her release the breath she had been holding

"Ah, good" A pleased smile appeared on the bikers lips "I was worried that you were going to go to Kyodai"

"Well, actually, I was going to...until a couple of days ago" Natsuki turned to look at her, clearly shocked,

"R-really? How come you changed your mind?" Shizuru laughed, it was a happy sound and Natsuki couldn't help but smile,

"I suppose I just felt that Fuuka had more to offer me" Shizuru was talking in layers, Natsuki realised and she was glad that she had told Shizuru how she felt. Otherwise she may have found herself travelling to Kyoto to see the older girl.

She hadn't actually realised before that she would have been willing to travel that distance to see her best friend. Apparently excepting her own feelings for the older girl had made her realise just how much she needed her. There was no way she would have let something like distance ruin what they had. Perhaps she should have told Shizuru that but...

"Urgh...that means that your fangirls will probably follow you there" Natsuki groaned, steering the conversation in a lighter direction. She still wasn't comfortable talking about her own feelings it would seem.

"Natsuki needn't be jealous, they do not have any chance against my beautiful biker" Shizuru smiled mischievously, knowing the reaction she would receive,

"Shizuru! Do you have to say things like that?" The blunette yelled, cheeks flushed and arms folded across her chest,

"I only speak the truth"

"T-thats not the point!"

"Ara ara, so Natsuki admits that she is a beautiful biker then?"

"What! That's not what I said!"

"Fufufu, Natsuki is so cute when she is flustered"

"And stop saying that damn it!" The older girl chuckled behind her hand; Natsuki was so much fun to tease.

* * *

><p>(1) – Can you guess what game they are playing? :P Natsuki's outburst is pretty much how I end up when I play it XD<p>

**AN: **There you go, another chapter done :) Not as long as the last one, but longer than the first 3 :P Would you guys prefer long chapters like the last one or chapters about the size of this one? Or do you not mind either way? haha

I hope this chapter was somewhat fluffy...I'm not sure how well I write that kind of thing so I'm just hoping it was ok :P don't get too used to everything being hunky dory though! My summery said there would be road blocks! And they will be making an appearance shortly ;)

Anyway I won't blab on like I usually do so, thank you for reading and reviews are always nice so feel free to drop me a comment :)

Hope you enjoyed the chapter and I'll see you in the New Year! :D

~IlliterateKoi~


	6. First Date

**Disclaimer;** Do I really need to say this every chapter? I don't own Mai HiME or any of its characters, Sunrise does :(

**AN: **Hello there! It doesn't feel any different in 2012 does it? :P Happy New year guys, I hope it's a good'n for you all! :)

Thank you for all the generous reviews, they make me smile :) Although, none of you guessed what game they were playing :p It was angry birds in case you were wondering ;)

I apologise for any mistakes I probably missed, it's a pretty long chapter and I couldn't be bothered reading it through more than a couple of times :P Enjoy!

* * *

><p>Barricade<p>

Chapter 6; First Date

"_You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams"_

* * *

><p>"I'll text you tomorrow or something" Natsuki said offhandedly while pulling her shoes on by the door of Shizuru's apartment.<p>

"Alright. Could you thank Tokiha-san for last night for me please? It would seem I forgot to do so" The Kyoto born blamed her lack of manners the previous night on the alcohol she had consumed, along with the fact that for the majority of the evening she had been in her own happy world.

"Er, sure" Natsuki straightened, having pulled her shoes on, and looked up at the older girl, her eyes staring in to deep crimson and her heart fluttering in her chest.

Shizuru stared back, biting the inside of her lip in a nervous manner. She really wished that she could just act normally, and tease the younger girl in to giving her what she wanted...but she was nervous. And she wasn't used to that feeling at all. It seemed that Natsuki just had that effect on her.

Her eyes flitted across Natsuki face, trying to decipher what she was feeling in that moment. The younger girl hadn't made a move to leave, so it would seem that she was waiting for something. But that didn't mean they were waiting for the same thing did it?

Natsuki may have been waiting for Shizuru to say goodbye, or maybe give her a quick hug. Why couldn't she figure out what the girl wanted like she usually could? It probably had something to do with the fact that she couldn't look in to Natsuki's eyes, damn nerves!

Natsuki herself wished that her body would work. She knew what she wanted to do but her nerves were preventing her from doing so. She could tell that Shizuru was nervous, the way the older girl's right arm had moved up to wrap around her own torso, along with the way she couldn't meet her eyes told her that much.

The two stood in nervous silence, unaware that they were having the same thoughts. In the end it was Natsuki who received a sudden burst of confidence...or perhaps it was merely impatience. Either way she pushed her nerves aside and moved forward, closing the gap between them and pressing her lips against the older girl's.

Shizuru melted in to the kiss almost instantly and felt her anxiousness disappear and be replaced by happiness and warmth. The kiss was short and simple, but it was enough. They broke apart, both of them smiling, blushing and feeling content.

"Ok, talk to you tomorrow" Natsuki spoke first, turning to the door and grabbing the handle, only to feel slender arms wrap around her stomach and squeeze gently,

"Ookini, Natsuki. Take care on your way home" Shizuru's voice was quiet but undeniably happy,

"Yeah, yeah. Now let me go, Mai'l kill me if Mikoto trashes the apartment" She chuckled. She felt the arms around her squeeze once more briefly before retreating back to their owner's side. Shizuru's own light chuckle met her ears before she exited the apartment, still smiling to herself.

* * *

><p>Natsuki had begrudgingly returned to her shared apartment to find Mikoto mashing the buttons on a controller belonging to her newly acquired Xbox. She had quickly re-heated and demolished the food Mai had left for her before spending the majority of what remained of the afternoon playing games with the spiky haired girl.<p>

She didn't really think that Mikoto needed a 'baby sitter', the girl was about to start high school after all. But, Mai's mothering instincts meant that the cat like girl was rarely left to her own devices. It wasn't like Natsuki minded really, she did like Mikoto and it wasn't often she had someone to play Xbox with.

Still, there were other places she would rather have been, or more like another person she would have preferred to be in the company of. A certain Kyoto born beauty perhaps? It was silly she knew, she had only been away from the older girl for a matter of hours, but she couldn't help it. Shizuru had looked so happy and being in the older girl's presence lifter her own mood significantly.

She briefly wondered if she should be worried by that, but soon discarded the thought. She was well aware how her mind worked and knew that if given half a chance she would most likely try to talk herself out of being in a relationship with Shizuru. She had never been one for giving people any sort control over her, which the older girl most certainly did now.

But no, she wouldn't let herself think like that, she was happy, and more importantly so was Shizuru and as such she decided that wanting to spend more time with the Kyoto born was not something to be worried about. It was surely just a natural thing for her to want to do now that they were dating right?

"Ah, Natsuki, I see you made it back then. How was the ramen I left for you?" Mai's voice broke her out of her thoughts and she lifted her gaze from the TV screen to the apartment door. Mai was shrugging off her jacket, having already kicked off her shoes and slipped on her slippers. The younger girl was wearing her work uniform and Natsuki always wondered how the busty red head managed to keep it so clean.

"It was good, thanks" She just about got out before the red head was tackled,

"Mai! How was work?" Mikoto asked happily while snuggling in to the warmth of the taller girl,

"It was ok, are you hungry?" Mai didn't really need to ask; even though the dark haired girl had only eaten a few hours ago she was always up for food, especially if it was cooked by her favourite red head. And so, she made her way to the kitchen area of the apartment, her body felt a little stiff and she was tired from work, but she didn't mind preparing something quick for Mikoto.

She glanced at Natsuki who shook her head, having understood what the red head was wordlessly asking. Unlike Mikoto, Natsuki did not need about 8 meals a day. Mai turned her attention to cooking, while Mikoto seemed content enough to simply stand beside her, enjoying the smells and sounds of the cooking food.

Once the food was ready Mai left Mikoto to eat and made herself comfortable on the couch next to her blue haired friend. She watched the TV for a minute or two, but quickly got bored. Natsuki was playing one of those war games she loved so much and Mai really didn't see the appeal of shooting people to gain points.

She turned her gaze to look at the biker subtly, whose attention was focused on the TV screen. The older girl looked rather content and it made a pleasant change. Not that Natsuki was always brooding or scowling, at least not as much as she used to anyway.

Even so, it wasn't very often that the biker looked as she did in that moment; like she was very happy. Mai knew that Natsuki wasn't like most when it came to showing emotions, even if it was happiness. It probably wasn't even a conscious decision on her part, perhaps she was just so used to suppressing anything but anger and annoyance that positive emotions were automatically hid from view.

That said, Natsuki wasn't particularly hard to read when she was relaxed, as she was now. The red head could see the brightness in her friend's eyes, the very slight curl of her lips and the general air of contentedness. Yes, Natsuki was happy, and Mai grinned at the knowledge of what that happiness obviously meant.

"You told her didn't you?" She had guessed as much at the graduation party, but she hadn't really seen Natsuki and Shizuru together very often so she wasn't sure what was normal behaviour for them. After all, it wasn't like the two had kissed in front of everyone or anything so there hadn't been any concrete proof. She _had_ noticed the way they looked at each other though; she recognised the emotions in their eyes because she knew she looked at Yuuichi that way sometimes.

Natsuki didn't answer her at first and Mai was about to prompt the girl when she spoke up,

"Is it really that obvious?" To Mai's amusement Natsuki looked utterly defeated and she couldn't help but chuckle,

"So, it went well I assume?" She asked with a smile, Natsuki frowned slightly, obviously not wanting to talk about what had happened, "Come on Natsuki! Give me something here!"

"Yes it went well, happy?" The older girl huffed, why did Mai insist on prying information out of her anyway?

"How did you tell her?"

"None of your business!" Mai laughed,

"Ok ok, I get it, you don't want to talk about it" She let silence fall for a minute or two before speaking again, "Have you kissed her yet?" She had been expecting an outburst from the blunette but it never came. Instead the girl just flushed pink and averted her eyes...Mai's jaw dropped,

"No way! You have!" She certainly hadn't been expecting that!

"Shut up" Natsuki barked, folding her arms across her chest and turning her face away from her friend.

"Did you...you know, do anything else...?" Mai felt her own cheeks redden slightly at the question, she wasn't originally going to ask but...she had to know!

"What! No! Why would you even ask that?" There was the outburst she had been expecting earlier, complete with a fierce blush, flailing arms and unusually high pitched voice. Mai giggled at her friend, who was now glaring at her,

"Well, you did go home together last night" she shrugged,

"Urgh, nothing happened!" Mai laughed again at her grumbling friend before moving to help Mikoto clean the kitchen. Natsuki continued to frown until she felt her cheeks return to their normal colour _'Damn Tokiha and her stupid questions!'_

After a few more minutes of silence Natsuki spoke up again, having remembered Shizuru's request from earlier,

"Oh, Shizuru said to thank you for last night. So...thanks, I guess" The blunette shrugged, not really seeing why Mai needed to be thanked, especially since she was fairly certain that the red head had just used graduation as an excuse to drag everybody to that damnable karaoke bar.

"No problem. I'm glad you both enjoyed it" Mai quipped with a grin, looking over her shoulder from her position in the kitchen "We can do it more often if you like?"

"Hell no!" Came the defiant response, which of course just caused the red head to chuckle again.

* * *

><p>Shizuru peeled back the duvet atop her bed and quickly snuggled in to the soft sheets. As she made herself comfortable she picked up the scent on her pillow and a smile spread across her face <em>'Natsuki'<em>.

She had shared her bed with Natsuki last night. The blunette had held her tight as they slept. It had been wonderful and Shizuru found herself wishing that the younger girl was with her again. She wanted to fall asleep in those strong yet soft arms again, and wake up to see her beautiful face, her shining emerald eyes looking back at her with the affection she had yearned to see there for so long.

But, there would be plenty of time for that. Natsuki was hers now, and she had no intentions of letting that change. She finally had what she had wanted for all these years and she'd be damned if she let anything come between them.

With a content sigh she turned her head slightly to snuggle further in to her pillow, her eyes closing and her body relaxing in to the mattress.

Once Natsuki had left she had spent her day reading and confirming some things with Fuuka University. Since she had left it so late to respond and sort out her accommodation there had been no dorm rooms left on campus.

She'd therefore had to find a suitable apartment in the surrounding area. It hadn't been too difficult to find somewhere with spaces left once she started looking at the flats only the more wealthy students could afford.

She had never been one to brag about her well off background, in fact in all honesty she wasn't too fond of letting people know at all. She didn't really like using her parents' money but she didn't have much of a choice until she could earn some herself. Her part time job at the lingerie store hadn't paid very well and she'd been forced to stop working there when the duties of being Kaichou and studying for exams had taken up most of her time.

Her parents had always insisted that they did not mind paying for her education and accommodation, as long as she got good grades and stayed out of trouble. Although they hadn't needed to do so during her middle/high school years since she had been there on the Kazahana scholarship. Now she had no choice but to accept their help, only until she could support herself though.

She hadn't been able to visit the apartment she had picked yet, but they looked decent enough from the photographs provided on the website. She was nervous and excited about moving there. She would have her own room but would be sharing the general living space with two other people and she wondered what they would be like. She sincerely hoped that they would not end up joining her fan club, since that would make her life miserable and annoying. She also highly doubted that Natsuki would appreciate such a thing.

She was smiling again. She could just imagine the younger girl's scowling face as she yelled at the currently faceless roommates. She was sure that Natsuki's language would be colourful and she giggled lightly in to her empty room.

Perhaps she needed to stop giggling to herself so much...it didn't seem like something a sane person would do. She couldn't help it though and as she tried to settle herself and get some sleep a silly grin was still present on her face.

Her mind soon drifted back to Natsuki though, not that she was complaining. She remembered the events of the day and almost giggled again. Then she started to think about the kiss they had shared earlier on, after Natsuki had asked if she'd upset her. It had felt amazing when Natsuki had kissed her back and she was a little embarrassed remembering that she had moaned into the kiss. Natsuki hadn't seemed put off by it though so maybe it was ok.

She wondered how long it would be before she could be a bit bolder in her actions. She was pretty sure that Natsuki had been thinking about touching her in some way that morning, and she desperately wanted to touch the biker. But, she knew that for that to happen she would need to initiate it. She would also have to be absolutely certain that Natsuki was comfortable with it...which was probably going to take time.

She was a patient person, and she would wait as long as it took but...she hoped that she wouldn't be kept waiting for _too _long. She had spent an embarrassing amount of time in the past thinking about how it would feel to touch Natsuki, to have the girl writhing beneath her, crying out at her touch.

She wanted to make these things a reality and she was sure she would go insane if she were forced to wait too long.

At any rate she needed to stop thinking about these things, she needed to get some sleep after all...perhaps she would have some rather pleasant dreams involving her favourite blue haired biker...

* * *

><p>Natsuki was staring up in to the void that was her apartment ceiling. The room was pretty much silent except for the ticking of Mai's alarm clock and Mikoto's random snores.<p>

She couldn't sleep. She felt like something was missing and she felt ridiculous when she realised what it was. The night before she had slept with another body pressed against hers. Not just any old body though, it had been Shizuru's.

She sighed and rubbed her forehead absently, wondering when she became so soft. Not that it was a bad thing she supposed...but it was a little embarrassing...especially since she had spent a large amount of her life believing that girls who turned soft due to love were pathetic and weak.

Now that she was one of those girls though she felt differently. Yes, she did feel kind of weak, but she didn't mind it. By accepting her feelings she was making both herself and Shizuru happy, surely there was nothing wrong with that.

She heard movement to her right and recognised it as either Mai or Mikoto moving around in their sleep. She glanced over to the other bed and smirked at the familiar scene. Mikoto was sprawled out across the red head, her arms wrapped around the girl's body tightly. Mai herself looked like she couldn't decide if she was uncomfortable or not.

Only when the red head sighed in defeat did Natsuki realise that the girl was not asleep as she had previously presumed. She continued to watch her friend, even as the younger girl opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling, much as she herself had been doing minutes ago.

"Hey, Natsuki?" The blunette almost jumped at the sound of the girl's voice, even though it was just above a whisper. Once she'd gotten over the shock she replied with a simple;

"Yeah?"

"Do you think it's wrong that we've all been able to live pretty normal lives after everything that happened?" Natsuki knew what the younger girl was referring to, though she had no idea why the red head would suddenly bring it up,

"Not really. We saved the world, I think we deserve a little normality" She laughed lightly, not wanting to get in to a serious discussion about this. It brought up too many questions and feelings that she wasn't really ready to deal with. Unfortunately, Mai didn't feel the same,

"Yeah...but we caused a lot of suffering too. We...killed people. And yet...here we all are, acting like it never happened...like we aren't murderers" Natsuki frowned; she'd never even considered that Mai might be feeling that way. It was strange to think that the girl had been responsible for the death of Alyssa's precious person. She wasn't sure what to say, and after a few more seconds of silence Mai spoke up again,

"I mean... I know that we were all being manipulated by the Obsidian Lord but... we could have stopped ourselves if we really wanted to" Mai sounded odd and Natsuki wondered if the girl was alright...they had never had a discussion like this before so it was hard to tell if the younger girl was upset or just a bit lost in thought. What Mai was saying sounded an awful lot like something Shizuru would say, which bugged the biker somewhat.

"Not really. In the end we would have had to kill each other anyway. If we hadn't the HiME star would have crashed in to earth and everyone would have died, including people that weren't even involved" She really didn't want to continue this conversation...but she felt obliged to do so, Mai was her friend after all, and apparently the red head needed to talk.

"I guess you're right. But...we killed people Natsuki. And even though they came back I just... I guess I feel guilty for being moderately happy with my life" Mai sighed and Natsuki found that she could relate to what the other girl was saying.

"Well, it's not just you. Pretty much everyone is just getting on with their lives; it's in the past anyway"

"Yeah..." They were silent for a few minutes but Natsuki knew that Mai wanted to say something else. The ticking from the alarm clock seemed louder now and it was starting to grate on her nerves, luckily Mai spoke up before the blunette could smash the device against a wall,

"You...killed someone, right?" Natsuki now wished it was silent again; she'd rather listen to the annoying ticking than have this conversation. Yes, she had killed someone.

"Yeah" Her voice was quiet and full of regret; she wished it hadn't sounded that way but there wasn't much she could about it now. She was pretty sure Mai knew who she had killed, so why the red head felt the need to bring it up was beyond her.

"How many...?" Mai asked after a few beats, her voice sounding awkward in the silence. Natsuki sighed and closed her eyes. She had killed two people. Herself and her best friend. She had set out that morning with the knowledge that she was going to kill her best friend and by association, herself as well. It was not a pleasant memory.

"Two" She finally answered and Mai made a sound of understanding.

"Yourself and Kaichou-san right?"

"Yeah"

"Do you feel guilty about it now?" Mai had guessed that Natsuki had killed herself and Shizuru when she'd witnessed the two pillars rising simultaneously, joining those belonging to the precious people of the other fallen HiME. She had also guessed from this that they were each other's most precious person. She honestly didn't know how Natsuki had gone through with it. She had killed Alyssa's most precious person yes, but what Natsuki had done was entirely different.

The blunette had killed her best friend. Her most important person. That couldn't have been easy to do. And she couldn't imagine it being something that was easy to deal with afterwards either. Though she assumed that at the time, Natsuki hadn't been thinking about dealing with the aftermath, since she too would be killed. It wasn't like they knew they were going to be resurrected soon after.

"Yeah, I do" Natsuki suddenly spoke and Mai turned to look at her friend for the first time throughout their conversation. The older girl was staring up at the ceiling, her brows furrowed as if in pain. She regretted bringing this up now, but they would need to talk about these things eventually. All of them. All 12 of the HiME's had played their part in the chaos of the Carnival, and Mai assumed that pretty much everyone was carrying some form of emotional scaring because of it.

"What did it feel like? Dying I mean" She asked suddenly, but she supposed it was slightly better than forcing her blue haired friend to talk about her feelings regarding killing her best friend. To her surprise Natsuki laughed lightly at this,

"I was wondering when someone would ask me that. I'm surprised it took so long" Mai smiled despite herself, she had wanted to ask Yuuichi about it but...it brought up some unwanted memories that neither she nor Yuuichi were willing to talk about.

"Well...?"

"Well, it felt kind of like my heart was about to explode at first" Mai nodded, she had seen both Takumi and Yuuichi grasp their chests just before they disappeared so that made sense "And then...there was nothing really. I knew that me and Shizuru were disappearing, and I could see the little green sparks but...I couldn't feel it" Natsuki paused, as if trying to recall how it had felt after that "And then the next thing I know I'm experiencing the whole thing again, but backwards" Natsuki chuckled again, not sure how to explain it any better.

Mai stayed silent for a while. Thinking over what she'd just been told. Basically it sounded like Natsuki hadn't been aware of being dead...if that made sense. She had no recollection of the time in between her dying and her resurrection...which was a bit of a letdown really. She wasn't sure what to say but luckily, Natsuki seemed to,

"Bit boring really" Another chuckle and then a long pause...eventually Natsuki spoke up again, "Right, unless there's something else you want to talk about at 3 in the morning go to sleep" Mai almost instantly closed her eyes, she could do that. There would be another opportunity to talk about these things she was sure. For now though, she felt slightly better. Knowing that she wasn't the only one feeling this way lifted the weight from her shoulders slightly and the knowledge that Natsuki was willing to let her talk about these things helped a lot too.

"Thanks Natsuki" She received a grunt in response and smiled slightly before letting sleep wash over her.

* * *

><p>The next morning was another bright one and Natsuki grumbled as she rolled out of bed. She hated her bladder sometimes.<p>

After slowly making her way through her morning routine the blunette grabbed a bowl and proceeded to fill it with cereal and milk. She shuffled lazily towards the couch and plopping down on it, crunching away at her breakfast. Mai and Mikoto were still sleeping soundly and Natsuki eyed the red head for a minute, thinking about their conversation during the night.

She hadn't been able to get to sleep straight away, her mind still plaguing her with images from the Carnival. And it wasn't just thoughts about what she had done, but what Shizuru had done as well.

She'd said that she had forgiven the older girl for everything that had happened, and she had. But they had never talked about...what exactly _had_ happened just before Shizuru had battled with Yukino. They had never talked about what Yukino had apparently seen and although Natsuki knew that it would be a difficult conversation, it was one that they needed to have at some point.

She didn't believe that Shizuru had done anything truly horrific to her while she slept. A stolen kiss was one thing, anything more than that seemed very unlikely though. Of course when she had heard Yukino's accusation her mind had thought up a completely different scenario and it was that thought which had caused her to have such a negative reaction when Shizuru had reached out to touch her.

The reason she didn't want to talk about it wasn't because she was worried about what Shizuru had done to her; in fact, she would quite like to know just to get it out of the way. The reason she didn't want to bring it up was more to do with the fact that her reaction had been the cause of Shizuru's insanity, at least in part. If she hadn't recoiled so badly from Shizuru the older girl may not have descended in to madness like she had. It was her rejection that had severed Shizuru's grasp on her sanity.

She swallowed the now very well chewed cereal in her mouth and sighed. She should just talk to Shizuru about it. She was pretty sure that the Kyoto born needed to talk about it too...even if it brought up memories both of them would rather forget, it had to be done if they were ever going to really move on from it.

Right now though, she'd had enough with thinking about such depressing things. She should be happy that she'd finally started to live a normal life. She was finally able to act like a normal 17 year old, and that including going on dates. With that in mind she quickly washed her bowl and made her way back towards her bed. After a certain amount of searching she found her phone and quickly found Shizuru's name amongst her fairly sparse contact list.

As she pressed the call button she idly checked the time; 12;37...Shizuru would probably still be in bed and the thought caused her to chuckle slightly. After several rings Natsuki wondered if the older girl was even going to pick up...

"_Natsuki?"_ Ah, there she was...she sounded groggy and Natsuki laughed lightly down the phone,

"Hey, did I wake you?" She knew she had, she just wanted to know if Shizuru would admit it,

"_Mmm, Natsuki just woke me from a _very_ pleasant dream..."_ The blunette didn't wait for the older girl to elaborate on her dream, as she was sure it would thoroughly embarrass her,

"Er...well, sorry...I guess"

"_Does Natsuki want to know what I was dreaming about? She was part of it after all..."_

"No! Keep your perverted dream to yourself woman!" Damn it, she was blushing,

"_Ara, who said it was a 'perverted' dream? Perhaps it is Natsuki who has been having such...erotic dreams hmm?"_ Hearing Shizuru say the word 'erotic' in her husky voice caused any blood remaining in Natsuki's body to rush to her head, causing her brain to malfunction and leaving her utterly speechless. That was until she heard Shizuru's laughter,

"Shizuru! Don't say things like that!"

"_Fufufu, kanin na Natsuki. I just cannot help myself"_

"Yeah, well..." She didn't know what she was planning on saying after that so she just grumbled down the phone, which earned her another chuckle from the older girl. She stayed silent for a moment, causing Shizuru to speak up to fill the silence,

"_Not that I do not enjoy listening to Natsuki breath but was there something you wanted?"_ Ah right, she had called for a reason,

"Er, yeah. I was um...I was just wondering if you...maybe" _'Seriously Kuga? Seriously? Just get on with it already!' _"A-are you free today?" She held her breath for reasons unknown to her as she waited for a response,

"_I am"_ Came the short reply and had Natsuki not been nervous herself she would have picked up on the Kyoto born's anxiousness,

"Well, did you maybe want to, um...do something?"

"_Is Natsuki asking me to go on a date with her?"_ Shizuru now sounded completely awake and it was clear she was a little giddy from Natsuki's question. The biker's immediate reaction was to deny that it was a date...but then she realised that she wanted it to be a date...that was the point of it after all.

"Erm...yes?"

"_I'd love to! What did Natsuki have in mind?"_ She hadn't actually thought that far ahead in all honesty and now regretted it...what did people usually do on dates? She floundered for a while but luckily Shizuru came to her aid _"How about we go to the cinema? We haven't done that before have we?" _Aha! Yes, dates were frequently held at the cinema!

"Yeah, that sounds good. Um...do you want me to pick you up then?"

"_Alright, can you give me a couple of hours to get ready though?" _Natsuki found herself smiling at the happy tone in Shizuru's voice and she nodded at the question before realising that the older girl couldn't see her,

"Yeah that's fine" She glanced at the clock again "About 3-ish then?" Shizuru made a sound of approval and then spoke,

"_That should be fine. I will see you later then Natsuki. I love you" _

"Um...y-yeah...later" She heard Shizuru giggle before she ended the call and flopped down on to her bed...what the hell was she meant to do for two freaking hours while she waited?

* * *

><p>Shizuru threw her phone on to the mattress beside her and let her body relax on to the bed again, a smile tugging at her lips. She hadn't meant to say those three words to Natsuki, they had just slipped out. Usually she would have felt guilty for saying it, since she felt like she was pushing her feelings on to the younger girl but...she didn't feel bad at all for saying it now. It was probably Natsuki's reply that made her think it hadn't been a problem.<p>

The blunette had sounded a little awkward but that was to be expected. Natsuki wasn't exactly used to hearing those words and she certainly wasn't used to saying them back. The point was that Natsuki hadn't freaked out about it, which was certainly a positive sign.

Shizuru was fairly confident that Natsuki did love her though. She wished the girl would say it but...like other things, she was prepared to wait.

She was well aware of the giddy smile that had spread across her face during the phone conversation and had yet to leave. She was going on a date with her Natsuki! And _Natsuki_ had asked _her_! She had always assumed that she would have to be the one who suggested these things and it made her deliriously happy that this wasn't the case.

Resisting the urge to laugh to herself again she practically jumped off the bed, not bothering to tidy the sheets up, she had to get ready for her date!

She went about her morning routine at a leisurely pace as she usually did on a weekend. After showering, brushing her teeth and drying her hair she grabbed some toast and then set about her next task; picking out some clothes.

Normally she would have just pulled something out and put it on, safe with the knowledge that most people thought she looked perfect in anything she wore...but this wasn't 'most people', this was Natsuki...she wanted to look nice for the younger girl. It was silly she knew but...it never hurt to look nice did it?

She pulled out various tops, pants, jeans, jackets, dresses and skirts but she wasn't satisfied with any of them. Eventually she came to the conclusion that dresses and skirts were out, since she would be riding Natsuki's motorbike and she was always wary of accidently flashing somebody.

After she had stuffed the dresses and skirts back in to her wardrobe she glanced at her bed where the remaining articles of clothing were scattered about. She brought her forefinger to her chin as she considered which outfit to go with. She glanced at the clock beside her bed to check the time and sighed at what she saw; 2:48. She had roughly 20 minutes before Natsuki got there, and that was only if the younger girl was 10 minutes late as she usually was.

She was being silly. She should just put something simple on right? It wasn't like Natsuki would mind what she was wearing in any case and they were only going to the cinema...

* * *

><p>Natsuki jumped off her bike, her black and blue converse hitting the ground with a thud. She promptly pulled out the kick stand for her bike before turning and making her way in to Shizuru's apartment building. She briefly wondered when Shizuru would be made to move out...she doubted it would be long before the school booted her out to make room for the new students. She'd never asked the older girl if she would be moving in to the Fuuka University dorms or getting her own place... she should ask that later.<p>

She made quick work of the stairs leading to Shizuru's floor but stopped outside her door. She looked down at herself and straightened out her clothing, since it had gotten a little tousled from her bike ride. She was wearing the slightly baggy and ripped jeans she'd bought earlier in the week along with a black t-shirt and grey hoodie. After making sure that she looked at least presentable she rapped her knuckles against the wooden door and waited. It was soon opened, revealing the Kyoto born, who was smiling.

Natsuki took in the older girl's appearance. Shizuru was wearing a pair of faded blue skinny jeans, which had been made to look well worn. Her top half was covered by a plain white top and a black cardigan which had long strips of fabric at the front. There was also a necklace of some sort hanging around the older girl's neck, but Natsuki didn't allow herself to focus on it for too long...since it stopped just above the swell of the girls breasts.

It was a simple outfit and yet Natsuki couldn't help but think that the girl looked stunning in it. When she finally looked up in to Shizuru's crimson eyes she really had to wonder if she'd been semi blind all these years. How the hell had missed the fact that her best friend was drop dead gorgeous? And would probably still be so even if she were to wear a damn bin bag!

Shizuru seemed to be finding her admiration rather amusing, if the smirk on her lips was anything to go by,

"Ara ara, Natsuki, you're embarrassing me" Shizuru spoke in an innocent voice, turning her head slightly and covering her cheek with her left hand as if hiding a blush. She was not embarrassed in the least, nor was she blushing...Natsuki, however, was.

"Urgh, I'm not here 2 minutes and you're already teasing me!" The blunette complained, while looking away and crossing her arms with a huff. Shizuru chuckled behind her hand and then turned to put her shoes on...which of course meant that she would be bending over, giving Natsuki a rather nice view of her rear. The younger girl tried to avert her eyes, really she did... it was no use though. Her eyes gave in to the magnetic pull and Natsuki found herself staring at Shizuru backside...those jeans were pretty tight...

"I'll wait for you outside" Natsuki practically squeaked the rushed sentence and Shizuru wondered what had happened to cause such a reaction. Then she realised what position she was in and blushed...she hadn't actually meant to do that. Still, she laughed softly at the inadvertent tease. She sincerely hoped that Natsuki never changed; teasing her was far too much fun.

A minute or so later and Shizuru had made her way downstairs and out of the apartment building, having pulled on a jacket before she left. Even if it was fairly warm for March it still wasn't the weather for going without a coat of some kind. And apart from that, they were riding in to town on Natsuki's motorbike, which could make for quite a cold journey due to the wind.

Natsuki was waiting for her, leaning against her bike, arms crossed and a slight scowl on her face. She looked very much like a tough biker, though the effect would have been better were she wearing her leathers. Shizuru however just thought that the blunette looked absolutely adorable. Before she could voice this opinion though Natsuki saw her approaching and got on her bike. Once Shizuru was right next her she was handed the helmet, apparently it was her turn to wear it.

Natsuki waited for Shizuru to wrap her arms around her torso but not a moment longer, they were soon speeding towards the town centre and Shizuru closed her eyes...she really hated motorbikes. But, she supposed it was worth putting up with Natsuki's preferred mode of transport if it meant she got to hold on to her favourite blunette without receiving any complaints from the girl.

The journey took much less time than either of them wanted it to, though both for different reasons. Shizuru because it meant she had to let go of the younger girl, and Natsuki because she wanted to ride her bike for a while longer. She didn't really get to ride it as much as she used to, plus, it was a new bike so she felt like she should be riding it nonstop. Ah well, there would be time enough for that later, right now, she was on a date with Shizuru and as such she decided that her attention should be focused on the older girl.

Shizuru pulled the helmet off and shook her head slightly to sort her hair out, bringing her hand up to brush her bangs out of her eyes. The last thing she needed on a date was helmet hair. Feeling uncharacteristically paranoid about her hair she continued to smooth it down with her hand...until she heard Natsuki chuckle beside her,

"Your hair's fine, come on" Shizuru pouted at the younger girl, who was looking at her with a raised eyebrow and an amused smile,

"Natsuki seems very eager for us to get on with this date, does she perhaps just want to get it over with?" Her pout stayed in place and she made sure to look moderately upset too...which of course got the predictable reaction that Shizuru had been hoping for,

"Huh? No! I'm sorry Shizuru, I just wanted to...I'm not trying to get it over with! Honest!" Natsuki rushed out, hoping that she hadn't managed to somehow screw up already. Part of her was well aware that this was likely to be one of Shizuru's teases...but she could never really be sure, especially when the teases related to something she knew was important to the older girl.

"Ah, I am glad Natsuki wasn't trying to do so. It is our first date after all, we should take our time no?" Shizuru tilted her head to one side, closing her eyes and smiling as she did so...which confused Natsuki slightly. Had Shizuru been teasing her or not?

"Is Natsuki ready then?" The blunette wrote the thoughts off and instead smirked at the chestnut haired girl,

"Now who's rushing?" Shizuru merely smiled at her before they made their way towards the cinema.

Fuuka was a busy town, filled with both shoppers and workers throughout the year. It made getting anywhere difficult at times and it was fairly easy for people to get separated by the crowds of people. Shizuru wished that today had been one of those days; it would have given her the perfect excuse to hold Natsuki's hand. She wouldn't want them to get separated now would she?

As fate would have it though the pavements were far less crowded than they usually were. There wasn't really a plausible reason for it that the older girl could think of...except maybe that somebody hated her. Although the number of other pedestrians was significantly less than usual, there were still enough people around to prevent them from walking side by side properly. While she was busy cursing her luck, she failed to notice that Natsuki was constantly looking over her shoulder to make sure she was still there.

Had she been paying attention she would have found this incredibly adorable, especially since the younger girl kept cursing as she walked in to somebody because she wasn't looking where she was going.

Eventually they reached the large building they had been aiming for. Since it was a Saturday, as well as the start of spring break, the entire area had been invaded by teenagers of various ages.

Natsuki eyed the many groups of teens, hoping that no one from Shizuru's fan club was amongst them. Unfortunately, she immediately spotted several girls who looked annoyingly familiar...she had shoved past them on several occasions as they gathered outside the Student Council room.

She wasn't particularly worried about people from Fuuka Academy seeing them together; it was common knowledge that they were friends...though most people couldn't understand why. Friends went to the cinema with each other too so it wasn't a big deal. Ok so she and Shizuru hadn't been to the cinema together before, but that was beside the point.

Shizuru was smiling happily to herself, having gotten over her short bout of annoyance at being un-able to hold the younger girls hand. They would be in a dark cinema soon, and she certainly planned on holding her girlfriend's hand while they watched whatever film they were going see...which reminded her,

"What are we going to watch Natsuki?"

"Hmm?" She turned to look at the biker at the distracted response and chuckled lightly at what she saw; Natsuki was watching everyone around them cautiously, glaring at anyone that seemed like they were about to approach.

The older girl assumed that some of the teenagers would be from Fuuka, and as such some of them were quite likely to be admirers of hers...which explained Natsuki's treatment of them. As they entered the building she giggled when Natsuki practically growled at a nearby girl,

"Natsuki" Her amusement was quite evident in her voice,

"Yeah?" She still sounded distracted and Shizuru found it entirely amusing that her best friend was so focused on keeping her fan girls at bay that she wasn't even paying her date any attention,

"Ara, Natsuki is such a bad date. Perhaps I should just go home" She raised her voice slightly, sighed heavily and pulled out her pout again. This of course gained the blunette's attention and she promptly blushed,

"What? You can't go home! A-and don't say that so loud!" Natsuki looked around to see if anyone had overheard Shizuru calling her a 'bad date', mostly because with the amount of fan girls in the immediate vicinity she was pretty sure she wouldn't get out of the building alive if they had.

"Well then Natsuki needs to stop staring at other girls, unless she would rather be on a date with them instead" Shizuru was still pouting and once again Natsuki couldn't figure out if Shizuru was teasing her or just using the tease to hide how she was really feeling. The biker felt her eyebrow twitch in annoyance _'God damn it, stupid fan girls, getting me in trouble already!'_

"I wasn't staring at them like that and you know it!" She sighed and stopped walked since they had reached the foyer area of the cinema. She then turned to face the Kyoto born with a sheepish smile "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to act like that...they just annoy me" She shrugged, hoping that Shizuru wasn't really annoyed with her. She relaxed when she saw a smile grace her girlfriend's lips,

"I suppose I can let it slip this time. However Natsuki had better be extra nice to me for the rest of the day" From the playful tone in the older girls voice Natsuki realised that Shizuru had in fact only been teasing, and that she hadn't really been annoyed by her behaviour.

"Yeah, yeah" Natsuki smiled back. Shizuru was right of course...she supposed she _was_ acting like a 'bad date', and so, she was determined to be a _good_ date from now on. Although she had no experience what so ever when it came to dating, she wasn't _completely _oblivious to how things were meant to go.

"Is there anything in particular you want to see?" She figured that letting Shizuru decide what they watched was a good place to start. Plus, she had no idea what was even playing at the moment, and since she rarely watched enough TV to see adverts for films, the movie names displayed above the purchase area meant nothing to her.

Shizuru glanced up at the giant board, trying to find a title she recognised. There were several romance films that she knew of, but she highly doubted that Natsuki would appreciate being made to sit through any of them. No doubt the younger girl would curse her for the rest of the day...if not the rest of the week if she were forced in to watching any of the 'sappy, pointless and completely unrealistic' films. So, that option was out.

There were also a couple of action films showing, which would no doubt involve lots of explosions and car chases, which she was certain Natsuki would enjoy. She however, would not. She found such films to be...well, pointless and unrealistic. So, the action option was out too.

She scanned the rest of the board, searching for something that they would both like to watch. Her eyes wandered over the titles _'No...No...Definitely not...Why are there so many animated films out lately?...no...No...Aha! Perfect!'_

Having found a film she deemed suitable for both their tastes she turned her attention back to Natsuki, who had her arms crossed over her chest, a bored look plastered on her face as her right foot tapped lightly on the polished floor. When the biker noticed that Shizuru was looking at her she smirked,

"Picked something?" Honestly, she had thought the older girl was _never_ going to decide. She assumed that the Kyoto born would have picked some cheesy romance film and therefore didn't bother to ask what her choice was.

"I have. Would Natsuki like to join the queue before it gets any longer?" The older girl motioned at the queue, which had indeed gotten a fair bit longer while they'd been stood there.

"Well, we could probably have paid for our tickets by now if you hadn't taken so long deciding, Kaichou-sama" Natsuki chuckled as Shizuru frowned slightly at her; the older girl hated it when she called her 'Kaichou-sama'.

"Natsuki ikezu. I thought you were meant to be being nice to me?" Shizuru was pouting _again_, though this time it was a pretty genuine one. She really didn't like it when Natsuki called her by something that was not only informal for their relationship but also what her fan club called her. They joined the queue before Natsuki turned to face her, a smirk on her face,

"I am being nice, I let you pick the film didn't I, _Fujino_?" She laughed at the look on Shizuru's face, which earned her a smack on the shoulder from the girl "Sorry, sorry, I couldn't resist"

"Natsuki is being very mean to me today. I do not recall doing anything to make her treat me that way. Unless she is perhaps feeling a little...frustrated?" Natsuki pretty much choked on her own breath as her face flushed red...she hated it when Shizuru did that! Especially since her mind had quite obviously jumped to the conclusion that by frustrated, Shizuru actually meant 'sexually frustrated'. And since Shizuru hadn't actually specified, the fact that she had jumped to that conclusion just gave the older girl more ammunition to tease her with!

"Ara, Natsuki, your face is all red, are you really that frustrated?" _'God damn it woman!'_ Natsuki was fairly certain that her cheeks were hot enough to fry an egg on, and Shizuru's quiet chuckling behind her hand was _not_ helping. She promptly decided that the best course of action was to scowl and ignore the older girl until they reached the front of the queue and were called over by an employee to purchase their tickets.

She let Shizuru ask for the tickets, since she hadn't even bothered to ask what the girl had picked, while she got her money ready. Once again she proved that she was not completely hopeless and handed over enough money to cover both her own and Shizuru's tickets.

"Ara, Natsuki, you didn't have to do that" Apparently her willingness to pay for the both of them had surprised Shizuru and Natsuki had to fight the urge to be offended by that. Did Shizuru think she was a cheap skate or something? Pft!

She quickly decided that she could perhaps get the older girl back for her earlier tease using this though, and therefore set about doing just that as they made their way towards the screen for their film.

"Well, since you accused me of being a bad date I figured I'd just have to prove you wrong" She paused as Shizuru looked at her with a small smile "And everyone knows that you're supposed to pay for the pretty girl" She even threw in a wink for good measure, and was immensely pleased when a pink tinge spread across Shizuru's face. Score!

Of course she should have known better than to expect the Kyoto born to let her have her victory and as they entered their screening room the other girl spoke up,

"Ara, so Natsuki is saying that she only paid because I am pretty? She has no interest in my personality at all?" Natsuki's eyebrow twitched "Natsuki ikezu, only using me for my body" This was said rather loudly...which promptly caused a blush to rush the blunette's cheeks.

"Shi-Shizuru!" The chestnut haired girl laughed, yes, Natsuki should definitely have known better.

* * *

><p>Natsuki shifted slightly in her seat; trying to get comfy on a chair that had been used far too many times was not easy. Eventually she settled, though she doubted she would remain so for very long. The film had just started and she watched the screen, which was currently showing a young couple viewing a large house.<p>

When she'd finally gotten around to asking Shizuru what she had picked she'd been shocked by the older girls choice. She was well aware that the Kyoto born was not fond of horror films, especially the haunted house type, which this film most certainly was if the giant, old looking house was anything to go by.

Shizuru for her part had spent the last five minutes glancing at Natsuki in the corner of her eye. She had picked this film for a particular reason of course, and was now waiting for the perfect opportunity to take advantage of that. She didn't like horror films; her imagination had a habit of running away with itself when she watched them, which usually meant that she ended up scaring herself half to death at night when she was alone in her bedroom.

She had once been convinced that there was a ghost in her room because she kept hearing strange tapping noises. She hadn't slept at all that night and had felt utterly ridiculous in the morning when she realised that the noise had been caused by a moth which had been trapped in her room(1). Needless to say that was the last time she had allowed Natsuki to trick her into watching a haunted house film.

Still, it would be worth it she was sure. She just had to wait for the right moment. So, she watched the screen... of course she glanced at Natsuki every now and then...she couldn't help it! After about half an hour she was starting to get frustrated, when were the scary parts going to start? She wanted to snuggle up against Natsuki already!

The biker was well aware that Shizuru was waiting for something scary to happen on screen, and she had guessed why. She may be dense but she was not completely stupid. Plus, she knew Shizuru and thus had quite easily deduced why the girl had picked a horror film...it also helped that Shizuru been 'discreetly' glancing at her every few minutes.

She sighed; she was meant to be being nice wasn't she? Being a good date? Well, she had another opportunity to do so here. It was pretty dark in the room and everyone was either focused on the screen or on the person they were with so she wasn't worried about people seeing them.

She sat up slightly, lifted the arm rest up and pulled a rather shocked looking Shizuru towards her. The older girl leant against her body and tawny hair splayed out across her shoulder as Shizuru rested her head there. Natsuki smiled to herself as Shizuru sighed happily and let her right arm drape itself across the older girl's shoulders.

From that point on Natsuki didn't really know what was happening in the film. She had tried to watch it after Shizuru had settled against her but...it was kind of hard to concentrate when you had a gorgeous girl leaning against you...especially when said girl placed her hand on your thigh.

After 10 minutes of trying and failing to follow the story on screen Natsuki gave up in favour of focusing on her date. She couldn't get over how natural it felt, to have her arm around Shizuru as the older girl snuggled against her. She would never have imagined it feeling so nice to simply wrap your arm around somebody. She was certainly glad that she had come to her senses about the whole 'romance' thing at any rate.

She felt Shizuru jump against her and heard several gasps and even a scream from other members of the audience and assumed that the scary stuff was finally taking place. She returned her attention to the screen again, though it didn't stay there long.

Shizuru snuggled closer to her and she became acutely aware of just how close they really were. She could feel the older girl's rib cage expand slightly as she breathed, feel every twitch in the girl's body when something scary was about to happen on screen and she could most certainly feel the hand on her leg.

Every time Shizuru twitched or moved, even slightly, her hand would make its presence well known to the blunette. She now wished that she'd taken her hoodie off before she pulled Shizuru towards her; she was feeling rather hot all of a sudden. Even if she was feeling that way she couldn't bring herself to move, she was pretty sure that Shizuru was rather comfortable where she was and she didn't want to disturb her.

Plus...if her temperature had suddenly risen enough for her to need to remove her hoodie she was fairly certain that Shizuru would put two and two together...which would no doubt mean a tease about her being 'hot and bothered'. And the teases with a bit of truth in them were always the most embarrassing.

Shizuru had no idea that the younger girl was having a reaction to her hand at all. She was too engrossed in what was happening on the giant screen in front of them. Somehow the film had sucked her in. She had only placed her hand on Natsuki's thigh because in their current position it was the only logical place for it to go.

She watched the screen, a nervous flutter in her stomach as some creepy music started up in the background. The girl on screen was moving towards a door, from which a small sliver of light was coming. Shizuru's heart beat picked up its pace as the girl reached the door and reached out for the handle. She wanted to look away but she couldn't! The girl quickly flung the door open to be met with...nothing. She sighed, turned off the light and turned around, only to come face to face with some horribly mutilated human face.

Half of the audience screamed or jumped, and Shizuru was amongst them. She turned to bury her head in to the crook of Natsuki's neck, feeling silly. She heard Natsuki's chuckle reverberate through her throat and lifted her head to look at the girl.

Natsuki was looking down at her, an amused smile on her face and her eyes swimming with unrestrained mirth. Feeling rather sheepish Shizuru merely giggled lightly before returning her attention back to the screen.

Natsuki for her part had been grateful for the sudden fright her girlfriend had experienced...as horrible as that sounded. Her amusement at Shizuru jumping and hiding had been a welcome distraction from the hand on her thigh...or perhaps it had more to do with her thoughts about that hand...and her thigh...and how close it was to her..._'Damn it Kuga, just watch the film!'_

* * *

><p>Sometime later the pair were leaving the building and Natsuki sighed in relief when the cool spring air hit her skin. She pushed her sleeves up to her elbows to increase the effect and then turned around to make sure that Shizuru had followed her out of the cinema. The chestnut haired girl was indeed behind her, standing slightly to her right with an entirely suspicious innocent smile playing on her lips,<p>

"What?" Natsuki made sure her suspicions were evident in her voice, if Shizuru was up to something she wanted the older girl to know that she was on to her! When Shizuru chuckled behind her hand politely she already knew what was coming,

"Natsuki is so cute when she's..." Natsuki cut her off,

"Yeah, whatever" She grumbled, folding her arms across her chest and looking away from the Kyoto born, which of course just caused the other girl to chuckle again. _'Damn Shizuru and her 'Natsuki is so cute when she is 'insert _any behaviour_ here' comments. Damn woman, always teasing'_

Shizuru could tell that Natsuki was now internally grumbling about being teased, which was all very amusing, however, they were still just standing outside the cinema and her fan girls were beginning to stare. So, she decided that they should move and took the matter in to her own hands.

Natsuki made a startled noise as Shizuru's left arm was linked through her right. Before she could enquire what the older girl was doing though they were moving, Shizuru dragging the blunette slightly until she recovered,

"Shizuru what are..."

"Would you like to get something to eat?" Shizuru interrupted with a smile, which only widened when she watched Natsuki raise an eyebrow at her,

"Um...sure" In all honesty Natsuki was rather confused. One minute Shizuru was laughing at her expense and the next the tawny haired girl was pulling her away and asking if she wanted to eat something?

The streets seemed a little less busy now, although it was almost 6 o'clock so Natsuki doubted it would stay that way for long, especially with it being a Saturday. The biker watched as a couple crossed the road, the woman had her arm linked through her partners as he spoke animatedly about something.

Then she realised that Shizuru's arm was currently linked through hers. She had to force herself not to jump away from the older girl, since she was fairly certain that she would hurt Shizuru if she did so. Besides, it wasn't a big deal really was it? Nobody was looking at them strangely or anything...and girls linked each other all time anyway didn't they? Well, some girls anyway. Girls like Mai no doubt.

"...when it jumped out from nowhere. At least I wasn't the only one who found it scary though. Did Natsuki find any of it scary?" Shizuru had been talking throughout their walk and Natsuki's mind chose this moment to make her aware of that fact. '_Shit. What was she talking about? Did I find it scary?... Oh, the film!'_

"Erm, not really" The blunette smiled sheepishly. Even if she hadn't been preoccupied with...certain things during the film she doubted that she would have found it at all scary. The fact that Shizuru _had _was quite amusing though. How could somebody who had fought real life monsters find fake 'ghosts' scary?

"Ara, Natsuki is so brave, perhaps she will stay with me tonight to fight off any scary poltergeists?" Natsuki chuckled as she held open the door to the small cafe they had just arrived at, allowing her girlfriend to enter before her, which of course earned her more points in the 'good date' column.

"You'd like that wouldn't you?" She smirked as Shizuru raised a brow at her; apparently she was saying more unexpected things recently. Enough to shock Shizuru's eyebrow in to lifting more often anyway. It wasn't that strange that Shizuru would react like that she supposed; it wasn't really normal for _her_ to be doing any teasing.

Shizuru didn't say anything until they sat down in a booth and began looking at the menus,

"Since when did Natsuki enjoy teasing?" Natsuki sniggered rather impolitely; Shizuru actually appeared to be a little annoyed with her. Perhaps she was worried that Natsuki would turn the tables on her more often? Natsuki knew that this would happen though, yes, she may have been able to get in the odd tease, but Shizuru was the master and, let's face it, Shizuru was not prone to the full face, tomato-red blushes that Natsuki was.

"I don't know, I guess you're just rubbing off on me..." The second the sentence left her mouth she regretted her choice of words...she had just handed Shizuru _another _tease hadn't she?

"Ara, I do not recall doing any of this 'rubbing' that Natsuki speaks of. Perhaps she would like to demonstrate to refresh my memory?" Natsuki flushed red and let her head fall on to the table with a thud while Shizuru chuckled at her. _'urgh, I'm never going to win'_

* * *

><p>Natsuki could feel her nerves worsen with every corner. She was currently speeding towards Shizuru's apartment on her bike, ducking and weaving through traffic...though not nearly as recklessly as she usually would have. She had a passenger after all, whose slender yet strong arms were wrapped her stomach, tightening slightly whenever the bike sped up a little or turned a corner a bit faster than it should have.<p>

This wasn't the cause of her anxiousness though. No, that was being caused by the fact that they were nearing Shizuru's apartment complex. Which would mean saying goodbye and...The good night kiss. It was also their first kiss after their first date. She couldn't mess it up!

She wished she didn't have to get nervous _every_ time she knew that a kiss was coming. She had shared 3 kisses with Shizuru already (Carnival kiss not withstanding) so surely her anxiousness about doing it again should be decreasing shouldn't it? But...she was well aware that Shizuru had been waiting for these kisses for years...she was worried that the older girl would decide that it hadn't been worth the wait.

Plus...when Shizuru had initiated their kiss in her apartment it had been different to the ones Natsuki had initiated. She wasn't confident enough to kiss Shizuru like that. Of course if Shizuru lead the way she had no problem with kissing her back just as passionately, it had been a very nice kiss after all.

When they pulled on to the street holding Shizuru's apartment building Natsuki had to take a deep breath to steady herself. She was stressing over something that she didn't need to be. She was pretty sure that Shizuru would be happy with any kiss she received from her...wouldn't she?

Shizuru, who was blissfully unaware that Natsuki was worried, had enjoyed the ride home much more than she'd enjoyed the ride into town. Mostly because she wasn't wearing the helmet, which of course allowed her to do one her favourite things; listen to Natsuki's heart beating by pressing her against the younger girls back.

She had noticed that the biker's heart had been beating a little irregularly throughout the journey but she paid it no heed, she assumed it was just because the girl was enjoying the bike ride.

When they reached their destination Shizuru removed her arms from around the younger girl, expecting her to jump off the bike almost before it came to a complete stop. Natsuki didn't move however and Shizuru wondered if the girl was ok.

"Natsuki?" That seemed to break the girl out of whatever state she was in and she promptly hopped off the bike and put it on its stand. Shizuru climbed off the mechanical contraption with an amount of grace that should really have been impossible and Natsuki had to smile. After pulling her helmet off and hanging it on one of the handles she turned and headed towards the complex.

It was starting to get dark out and the temperature was dropping as the sun disappeared from the sky, but they hardly noticed. Natsuki was still nervous and as they made their way in to the apartment building in silence the feeling only increased.

Shizuru herself was lost in thought. She sincerely hoped that Natsuki knew it was tradition to give a good night kiss after a date. Not that it would matter if she didn't, since Shizuru sure as hell was not going to let the younger girl leave without feeling those soft, pink lips against her own once more. She had wanted to kiss the girl several times during their date, but since they had been in public she'd been unable to do so.

As they neared her floor Shizuru could tell that her slightly shorter friend was feeling a little nervous. It was the way she fiddled with her sleeve and checked her hair for split ends that gave it away. This of course made her smile, since she was pretty sure there was only one reason Natsuki would be feeling nervous. The biker obviously knew about the first date tradition.

While Natsuki thought that they were nearing Shizuru's door much too fast, Shizuru felt like it was taking entirely too long. Since when did it take so long to get to her apartment anyway? When they finally did arrive the pair stood rather awkwardly outside. Natsuki was trying desperately hard to gather her courage while Shizuru was actually starting to feel a little flutter of nervousness herself.

The Kyoto born wished that Natsuki would just look at her, she was sure that if she did the blunette would find her courage. After a few more seconds though the older girl decided to take things in to her own hands and moved forward to wrap her arms around Natsuki's waist, pulling the girl towards her.

The biker's body stiffened at the contact and dazzling green snapped up to meet her gaze. She softened her expression in an attempt to get the girl to relax, smiling gently as she peered back in to still nervous eyes. Only when she felt the younger girls body relax against her did she move her hand up to cup a now slightly pink cheek, her other hand resting on the girl's shoulder.

She could still see the nerves fluttering in those emerald eyes but then, she assumed that Natsuki would be able to see the same in her eyes. She licked her lips unconsciously as her gaze flicked down and then back up again.

And then something warm and moist was pressed against her lips, moving slowly back and forth across them. Natsuki was kissing her, _finally. _She returned the kiss, moving her mouth to the pace Natsuki was setting. She felt a hand come to rest on her hip, while its partner trailed slowly up her side, causing her to shiver slightly at the sensation. The hand came to a stop when it reached her ribs and stayed there, holding her against the younger girl's body as their kiss continued.

A tongue prodded at her bottom lip and she gladly opened her mouth, giving it permission to enter. She allowed Natsuki to explore her mouth for a little while before pushing her own tongue forward to meet the warm muscle.

She felt a sudden flash of heat roll through her body and tightened her hold on the younger girl's shoulder, her right hand moving up to thread in to silky blue strands as she took control of the kiss.

She felt Natsuki's hold on her ribs and hip tighten slightly and she moaned softly in to the girl's mouth. She felt a puff of air against her face from Natsuki's nose as the girl shuddered slightly against her. Their lips were moving against each other feverishly now, both lost in the sensation of the kiss. Their tongues met and swirled around each other, dipping in to each other's mouths and back out again, tasting and exploring.

Eventually the need for air forced Shizuru to pull back, her breathing was rapid and she felt a little dizzy. She kept her eyes closed for a moment as she tried to regain her breath. That kiss had certainly been more than she'd been expecting.

When she opened her eyes to look at Natsuki she was pleased to see that the younger girl appeared to be in a similar state, her face a deep red, though Shizuru doubted that her own cheeks looked much different. Before the Kyoto born could really appreciate that blush though, Natsuki moved out of the embrace. For some reason it made Shizuru nervous,

"Natsuki? Is everything alright?" The blunette looked at her with slightly hazy emeralds,

"Er...y-yeah it's just..." She rubbed the back of her neck uncomfortably, "We're kind of... in the middle of the corridor..." This was said with a hint of amusement and Shizuru looked around.

"Ara, so we are" She had actually forgotten about that, Natsuki laughed lightly and she couldn't help but chuckle herself. Silence quickly fell again though and Shizuru was unsure what to do, luckily, Natsuki took control before things got awkward,

"I had fun today Shizuru" She smiled and moved forward to place a quick kiss on Shizuru's cheek, which caused both of their blushes to return,

"Ookini. I had fun too" Shizuru said quietly feeling a little shy for some reason. Natsuki smiled brightly at her before she turned around,

"Alright, I'll speak to you tomorrow. Night"

"Good night, Natsuki" The older girl watched Natsuki's retreating form, a silly grin on her face. Natsuki was definitely going to get a second date.

* * *

><p><em>(1) – <em>My friend actually did this once. She was texting me _all_ night saying that she could hear strange tapping noises...and then she text me in the morning to say that she'd found a moth trapped between her curtains and her window ¬.¬

**AN:** Phew, another chapter done! I wanted to show that it isn't just Shizuru that's struggling with the aftermath of the Carnival, hence Mai and Natsuki's late night conversation.

Also, kudos to the authors that can come up with Shizuru teases over and over again, I struggle to do so.

Anyway, thank you for reading, drop me a review if you like.

I'm not sure when the next update will be, a friend of mine died over the weekend so my mood isn't at its best and I find it hard to write when I'm feeling like crap. I'll try to get something written up though. Till next time,

~IlliterateKoi~


	7. Creeping In

**Disclaimer:** Just borrowing them, they belong to Sunrise yadda yadda yadda.

**AN:** I got this out quicker than I thought I would but I'm not sure if it's any good lol

Thank you to everyone that reviewed, you guys are seriously awesome! :)

I'd also just like to say a big thank you to all the anonymous reviewers since I can't reply to you guys directly, especially since a few of you have given me such amazing reviews that I thought my head would explode XD So; THANK YOU! :D

Things are going to start getting a little more interesting from here on out (I hope :p), since I've _finally_ managed to finish what were only meant to be the intro chapters :P

So, I hope you enjoy;

* * *

><p>Barricade<p>

Chapter 7: Creeping In

"_Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere"_

* * *

><p>Natsuki was sure that staring up in to the ceiling had become a new hobby of hers during the twilight hours. She was certainly spending a lot of time doing it. And apparently the ceiling was filled with some sort of negative vibe that made her mind wander to things she would rather it didn't.<p>

Currently the topic was a phone conversation she'd had earlier that day...well, sort of. It had started as a normal conversation, or at least what was considered normal for her and Shizuru anyway, you know, teasing, laughing...blushing. But then the older girl had started talking about her new apartment.

The Kyoto born had been to see what would soon become her home on Monday and had told Natsuki all about it the following day, which was today...or rather yesterday since it was currently 2:37am.

Now, the actual content of the phone conversation was not what was keeping the blunette awake. She wasn't really bothered about the actual apartment, why would she be? Shizuru seemed to have liked it; in fact the older girl seemed pretty excited about moving there. The apartment itself was not what Natsuki was currently thinking about. She was thinking about the other people that would be living in that apartment. Living with Shizuru.

From what Shizuru had told her, they would all have their own rooms but would be sharing the general living space...which of course meant that they would be interacting with each other and such like. The idea of two other girls living with _her_ girlfriend did not sit very well with her.

Especially when she realised that those girls would either be the same age as Shizuru or older...where as she was younger. Only by a year granted, but still. What if Shizuru decided that she wanted to be with somebody that was more mature? Or that liked tea...or reading...or _something. _What if one of Shizuru's flatmates was super smart, or really pretty? Or both? Or all of the above. _'Damn it...none of that stuff matters, Shizuru wouldn't do that, she...she loves me for fucks sake! She wouldn't want to be with any of them!'_

She turned on to her side and hugged her pillow to her chest. No, Shizuru wouldn't just randomly decide that she wanted to be with somebody else. But...Shizuru would be a university student. And that was probably going to mean parties and getting drunk and...Well, people did things they wouldn't usually do when they were drunk didn't they?

What if Shizuru got really drunk and slept with somebody? Not even necessarily one of her flatmates...but just some random she met at a party. Things like that happened all the time, it was one of the reasons that a lot of couples broke up if one or both of them were going to university.

Natsuki growled in to the silence of the room and turned over on to her other side, taking her pillow with her. She shouldn't be thinking these things. It was stupid. She knew that Shizuru wasn't one for getting drunk, and she knew that the older girl was madly in love with her. She had seen how happy Shizuru was now that they were dating. Surely the Kyoto born wouldn't do anything to ruin that.

It was pointless worrying about these things anyway she supposed. Even if they were to happen it wasn't like she could do anything about it..._'She wouldn't do anything like that anyway!' _

She sighed and hugged the pillow closer to her chest. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

><p>Shizuru stretched leisurely atop her double bed, having been woken by the beams of sunlight filtering through her curtains. After she felt sufficiently stretched, she popped one eye open and glanced at the clock beside her bed. 13:24 blinked back at her and she smiled lazily.<p>

She did enjoy school holidays, they meant plenty of lie ins, which she was certainly fond of. She rolled on to her side, wanting to laze around for a while longer until her body was properly awake. She ran through a quick check list of things she had to do but quickly gave up when she realised that there was only way she wanted to spend her day.

She smiled to herself while reaching for her phone, which was next to her clock on the bedside table. She quickly thumbed through the various menus and then held the device to her ear. It rang a few times and she busied herself by checking her nails for dirt. It rang a few more times than she had expected it to but her call was answered eventually,

"_What?"_ Came the rather gruff and husky greeting,

"Ara, how rude, that is no way to speak to your girlfriend. Natsuki ikezu" She smiled despite herself, Natsuki's voice had that effect on her,

" _Shizuru?"_ This was said through a yawn and the Kyoto born thought it to be rather cute,

"Have you just woken up?"

"_mhmm...what time is it?"_ The biker didn't sound all that with it and Shizuru chuckled lightly before concern creased her brow. While she could easily sleep to this time and well beyond, Natsuki very rarely did so, unless she was ill.

"It's just gone half past 1. Are you alright?" There was some shuffling on the other end before a response came through,

"_Yeah, I'm fine. Just -yawn- tired I guess, I didn't get to sleep 'till about 6 this morning_" The blunette chuckled down the line,

"Why couldn't Natsuki sleep?" She knew that the younger girl had difficulty sleeping when her mind was troubled. She couldn't help but jump to conclusions that it would be about their relationship if the girl was indeed troubled by something. There was a lengthy pause and Shizuru wondered if the girl had fallen back asleep. She hadn't though and she spoke up before too long,

"_I don't know"_ Natsuki laughed slightly again, though it sounded a little awkward. This struck Shizuru as odd. She didn't like the way that Natsuki was quite obviously not willing to tell her what had kept her awake all night. This just made it seem more likely that the younger girl's sleeplessness had been caused by something to do with their relationship. She didn't know how to respond to it in all honesty, so she fell back on to her safety net,

"Was Natsuki perhaps thinking about erotic things again?" There was spluttering noise on the other end that sounded very much like the younger girl had just swallowed her tongue,

"_No! Is all you ever think about? Honestly Shizuru!"_ The older girl could practically hear the blush in the girls voice and giggled at the image her brain conjured up of the girls blushing face._ "Anyway, you ok?"_

The question caught Shizuru a little of guard...she couldn't actually remember a single other time that Natsuki had asked her that question. At least not in the everyday, normal conversational sense anyway. She knew that the girl was likely just trying to steer things away from their previous topic and she decided to go along with it. She didn't really want to dwell on it either.

"I am ok yes, however..." She trailed off and waited for Natsuki to prompt her,

"'_However' what? Is something wrong?"_ Natsuki actually sounded a little worried and Shizuru felt her heart flutter happily in her chest,

"Yes, something is most definitely wrong Natsuki" She added a pang of sorrow to her voice, knowing that Natsuki would pick up on it,

"_What is it? Did something happen? Are you ok?" _She felt kind of bad for making the girl worry like this but...she couldn't help it, she liked knowing that Natsuki cared about her and so she was being a little selfish...and of course having a little fun at her girlfriends expense,

"Natsuki, the problem is..." She paused for dramatic effect and she was pretty sure that the younger girl was holding her breath on the other end of the phone, "I haven't had a kiss off you in two days"

"_Wha...Shizuru!" _

"And I have also been unable to see Natsuki's beautiful blushing face" She chortled merrily,

"_Arg! Cut it out!"_ She continued to chuckle as she heard Natsuki's mutterings of 'damn woman' and 'always teasing'. Once the younger girls grumbles had died down Shizuru spoke up again,

"So, do you think you can fix this problem for me Na-tsu-ki?" She was fairly certain that the biker was blushing, and she was a little disappointed that she couldn't see it. To her credit, Natsuki did manage to respond in a somewhat positive way,

"_Um...Y-yeah, I guess I could do that"_

"Natsuki doesn't sound very enthusiastic" There was a growl from the other side and Shizuru had to hold her chuckle in,

"_Well maybe if I knew you weren't going to tease me mercilessly about it I wouldn't find it so difficult to speak!"_ Natsuki sounded slightly irked which of course just amused Shizuru further,

"Ara ara, I render Natsuki speechless?"

"_Damn it woman, stop it!"_ She didn't hold her mirth in this time and allowed her laughter to filter through the phone line. She heard Natsuki sigh in defeat and decided to give her girlfriend a break, it wasn't as fun when she couldn't see the blunette's face anyway,

"Would Natsuki like to come over today then?"

"_Sorry Shizuru, Mai's making me watch Mikoto today while she's at work"_ The Kyoto born couldn't help but feel deflated, she really wanted to see Natsuki today! She needed her Kuga fix! _"But, you could come here?" _Natsuki sounded a little unsure about it, nervous perhaps _"If you want to that is"_ There was an almost pleading quality in the younger girl's voice and Shizuru's heart soared once again when she realised that Natsuki wanted to see her too.

"I would love to Natsuki. What time would you like me to come round?" She was already getting out of bed, since she was pretty sure what the girls answer would be,

"_Whenever you want really. I don't mind" _She'd guessed correctly and smiled happily to herself,

"Alright, I will be there shortly then" To her surprise Natsuki laughed lightly and Shizuru was almost certain that the girl was smirking,

"_Alright, later" _The call ended abruptly and Shizuru couldn't help the fond smile that spread across her face at Natsuki's rather rude ending of their call. It was one of those things that made Natsuki Natsuki, so of course she thought fondly of it. She also had an inkling that Natsuki had ended the call in such a way so as not to give her time to say those three words. Never mind, she could find time to say them later and see the bikers beautiful blush in response to the words.

She made quick work of getting ready, donning a simple skirt and top combo and covering her legs with some leggings that would keep her warm in the still relatively cool spring air. Before long she was on her way, heading towards the school campus. The air was warming up as spring got under way and she couldn't wait for it to be summer again. As long as it wasn't _too_ hot anyway. She liked the weather warm but not boiling, it was difficult to maintain a polite and graceful appearance when you felt like you were going to melt.

As she walked in the pleasant weather her mind drifted to Natsuki, as per usual. Although, her main emotion was not bliss as it had been for the past few days, but worry. She was worried about what had kept Natsuki awake the night before. She knew that it must have been something. Natsuki usually slept like a log unless something was really bugging her.

And when she had asked the younger girl about it she had only received a dismissive 'I don't know'. She didn't think it likely that Natsuki would have forgotten what kept her awake until 6 in the morning...so why hadn't she told her?

Of course, just because Natsuki hadn't told her didn't necessarily mean that it had anything to do with their relationship, or even her. After all, Natsuki had never really been one for opening up about things willingly, at least not without gentle persuasion (Or teasing, naturally). But...she couldn't help thinking that it _did_ have something to do with her.

She couldn't think of anything else that the blunette would be worrying over at the moment. She was sure that the younger girl would not be worrying about her extra classes. As long as the girl attended them and passed her re-sits she would be fine. And it wasn't like Natsuki was stupid or anything, quite the opposite really, so it wasn't likely that the girl would fail her exams.

She really couldn't think of anything else that would keep the girl awake. Changing their relationship was a big thing and therefore would most probably be the cause of the bikers raging thoughts. The knowledge of this did not sit very well with Shizuru. She wondered if she had done something to make Natsuki re-evaluate their relationship.

She couldn't think of anything though. She had actually toned down her teasing somewhat since they had gotten together. Or at least she thought she had. She hadn't 'accidentally' groped the girl anyway. Yes, she had let an 'I love you' slip out, but she couldn't see that being a big deal, since Natsuki had reacted rather well to it...

She knew that she was being silly, there was after all, no proof of any of this and she was merely jumping to conclusions. Natsuki had invited her over had she not? So obviously the girl wanted to see her, which couldn't be a bad sign...unless she wanted to see her to talk about their relationship.

Perhaps the younger girl _had _only gone along with this out of pity. Shizuru knew that it was difficult to watch your best friend hurting and being unable to do anything about it. She had, after all, watched Natsuki go through such pain while the younger girl tried to come to terms with her mother's death and her father's almost complete abandonment. Perhaps Natsuki just didn't want to see her in pain anymore and this was her way of fixing it.

Or, maybe Natsuki was just doing this because it was the only way she knew that Shizuru would stay by her side? It was entirely possible...which was why Shizuru worried about it so much. The blunette would no doubt see Shizuru moving back to Kyoto as the older girl abandoning her.

She hadn't said anything about moving to Kyoto to the girl but she knew that Natsuki would assume that would was going there for University. Which she had, as she'd told Shizuru when they'd discussed where she was going to University. Natsuki hadn't known that she was actually going to Fuuka U until after her graduation, and by that time the biker had already said that she wanted to try 'the dating thing'.

She knew, as a result of the Carnival, that she was Natsuki's most precious person, so she understood that the girl would not want her to leave. But, would Natsuki really go as far as to pretend that she returned Shizuru's feelings just keep the older girl around?

No. Natsuki certainly wouldn't do that. Shizuru knew that while the girl sometimes acted otherwise, Natsuki did care deeply for her. And as such, the biker would never do something like that just for her own selfish reasons. She would know that such a thing would only end up hurting both of them more in the long run.

So, she decided that thinking such things were utterly pointless and would only lead to her insecurities getting the better of her. She couldn't let herself fall in to that trap, things were going great and she knew that Natsuki was happy. Natsuki was many things, but a good actor, she was not. The blunette could not pretend that things were ok when they weren't, and she could not pretend to be happy when she wasn't. Especially when Shizuru was around, since the Kyoto girl could read her best friend like a book.

Feeling a bit better the chestnut haired girl finally made it to the on campus dorms. It was at this point she realised she didn't actually know the precise location of her girlfriends dorm room. Feeling somewhat sheepish she pulled out her phone, about to ring the blunette.

"Looking for the mutt I take it?" The voice almost made her jump, it was only her tightly held mask that prevented her from doing so. She turned in the direction of the voice, but could not see anyone. Her eyebrows knitted together in slight confusion until she heard a small bout of dry laughter.

A thud met her ears as a young red-head dropped out of a nearby tree, landing perfectly on the paved path below. Standing only a few feet away from her was none other than Yuuki Nao...the last person that Shizuru wanted to run in to.

"Ara, Yuuki-san should be careful climbing trees like that" Her mask was now firmly in place, she feared that the younger girl would see the intense mix of emotions in her eyes if she let that mask slip. The red head did not seem too bothered by her presence, and anyone walking past would not think anything strange was going on. Shizuru however, was a pro at reading people, and she could tell that Nao was _not _comfortable in the slightest.

The way those lime green eyes didn't leave her for a second, the way the muscles in her jaw seemed a little tense and the fact that the girl had yet to move any closer to her said that much. The girl was smirking but Shizuru knew that this was Nao's own mask of sorts. The young girl gave off an air of confidence and nonchalance, but in reality, she was anything but. At least not right now.

"Psht, like you'd care if anything happened to me anyway" The tone was snide and biting and Shizuru could feel the guilt whirling in her stomach, making her feel slightly ill. Instead of dwelling on that though she smiled politely at the girl before her,

"Of course I would care, I would not like to see Yuuki-san get hurt" She knew that this was most definitely the _wrong_ thing to say, but she couldn't bring herself to act any differently. Her polite mannerisms were a way of protecting herself after all. Nao sneered at her,

"Unless I hurt your precious pet right? Then you'd quite gladly hurt me yourself wouldn't you" Shizuru very nearly flinched at those words, and although her body had stayed still, she knew that the guilt and pain had made its way to her eyes briefly. Nao seemed relatively pleased with herself for a second or two. The look was quickly replaced by a hint of guilt though, much to Shizuru's confusion. Nao sighed lightly and her tone of voice changed to a slightly less aggressive one,

"Alright look. Kuga told me not to be a bitch. But that isn't going to happen, at least not any time soon" Shizuru was beyond confused at this point, what was going on with Nao all of a sudden? "But, we're probably going to be seeing more of each other so..." The red head sighed again and closed her eyes for a second. When she re-opened them her gaze was directed at the floor, a scowl on her face, as if she wasn't happy about what she was going to say "I forgive you for what you did alright?"

Shizuru couldn't keep her mask in place; it cracked slightly and revealed her shock, she hadn't been expecting that at all.

"Yuuki-san...you do not have to say such thin..."

"Oh just shut up and accept it already!" Nao's voice was not filled with anger as one would have expected, but it was a little frustrated "I still don't like you. I never have. So don't expect me to be nice to you or anything. But, I'm not going to hang what happened over your head anymore" She paused and then muttered under her breath, though Shizuru still heard it "Kuga would kill me if I did anyway, damn mutt, thinking she's the boss of me or something" Nao had her arms folded across her chest, a disinterested look on her face and an air of 'I don't give a shit' about her.

Shizuru couldn't help but smile slightly at the girl before her. Nao quite obviously cared for Natsuki, even if she would never admit it. She wasn't sure how to take the girls 'forgiveness' though, since she wasn't entirely sure that the red head meant it. But, she would take what she could get and allowed her mask to drop a little bit more so Nao could see that she was being sincere,

"Ookini, Yuuki-san" Nao looked at her with her disinterested eyes and then nodded slightly. The younger girl then turned around, as if to walk away, but before she moved she spoke up again,

"Kuga's staying in room 406 by the way, in the dorm block over there" She pointed in the general direction of the building that also held her own dorm room and then walked in the opposite direction, leaving Shizuru to her own devices.

* * *

><p>Natsuki glared at the TV screen as her character fell to floor holding his stomach, having just been shot. She jabbed at the X button on her controller impatiently as the timer counted down to her re-spawn. Mikoto looked much less annoyed as she played the game from her position on the floor, though Natsuki couldn't for the life of her understand why. The cat like girl had twice the amount of deaths she did and only 2 kills.<p>

"Wow! As if!" She yelled as she was once again gunned down. She sat forward in her seat and rested her elbows on her knees; her serious gaming pose. She grinned widely as she finally killed the person who'd been responsible for her last few deaths "Hah! That's what you get you camping rat!" Her victory was short lived though as she was soon killed by another played. A knocking sound emanated from the apartment door.

"Can you get that Mikoto?" Natsuki was far too immersed in the game to even think about moving, her brain didn't even clock on to who would be behind the door...until she heard the familiar Kyoto-ben anyway,

"Good afternoon Mikoto-chan" Mikoto returned the greeting before quickly returning to the floor in front of the TV, controller in hand. Natsuki was now trying not to look away from the screen, she knew that really, she should at least look up at her girlfriend but...she didn't want die again!

As it turned out she didn't have much of a choice. Shizuru, having noticed that Natsuki was rather engrossed in her game, stood directly in front of the girl, thus blocking her view of the screen. She chuckled when the blunette ducked her head from side to side, trying to regain her view of the TV,

"Shizuru, no offense, but you make a better door than a window" Natsuki tone was light and obviously joking...even if she was still trying to see the screen. Shizuru decided that her girlfriend needed teasing a little for the comment though,

"Ara, so Natsuki would rather shoot people than look at me? Ikezu" She pouted, and did not move from her current position. Natsuki finally gave up and gave the Kyoto born a wry smile,

"Fine, fine" She placed her controller on the couch arm and turned her attention up to her friends face, or more precisely, her eyes. God she loved Shizuru's eyes.

"Better" Shizuru smiled, clearly amused, though a little disappointed that Natsuki hadn't freaked out at her pouting like she usually did. She then lent down towards the blunette and placed a quick kiss on the girl's lips before sitting down gracefully beside her.

Natsuki pinked instantly at the unexpected gesture and her eyes glanced to the back of Mikoto's head to make sure the girl hadn't seen them. She shot Shizuru a look that clearly said 'Don't do that!' Shizuru covered up her amusement with an innocent smile and a tilt of her head, though she suspected that Natsuki could see right through her ploy. The blunette, who did know that Shizuru was amused, rolled her eyes at the action and then relaxed back in to the couch.

Once she realised that Shizuru was just going to sit there, she picked her controller back up and started playing again, though she wasn't as in to it this time around. Seeing the older girl had reminded her about her thoughts from the night before, much to her annoyance. She really didn't want to make a big deal out of it, since she was sure that she was just being stupid, but...she just couldn't ignore the fact that it bothered her.

"When are you moving in to your new apartment?" She tried to sound as normal as possible, so that the older girl wouldn't realise she was worried about the whole thing. Luckily, Shizuru didn't seem to notice that anything was amiss,

" Well, I don't have to move out of my current apartment for another couple of weeks" She paused for no apparent reason, something that Natsuki found to be annoying, but she was used to it by now " but I think I might try and move in to my new apartment in the next week or so"

"Oh, right. Cool" _'Cool? That's all you have to say Kuga? Cool? You're so lame! Say something else damn it!' _"Uh, if you need a hand packing stuff up or something... let me know?" She tried to make it sound casual, but she wasn't really used to being helpful so it came out as a question, which, of course, pulled a giggle from Shizuru,

"Why thank you Natsuki. I think I will be taking you up on that offer" Shizuru had in fact been wanting to ask the girl for her help on the matter, since she really needed somebody to help her that did not see any reason to keep unnecessary items. She was secretly a bit of a hoarder and seriously needed to go through her things with a critical eye...and throw away a lot of stuff that she did not need or particularly want.

Natsuki merely made a grunting noise in response. She had been honestly offering her help so she didn't mind that the girl had taken her suggestion seriously. Unfortunately, by asking the girl about her new apartment she could no longer ignore the thoughts about Shizuru's flat mates, which had jumped to the forefront of her mind,

"Did you meet any of your flat mates when you went to visit the place?" She asked, keeping her tone as neutral as possible,

"No, I didn't actually get to see the exact apartment I will be staying in. They have 'show' apartments that people can look at when considering if they would like to live there" Natsuki sniggered a little at this,

"So, basically they show you a nice, clean, well maintained place, when in reality where you actually end up could be a shit hole?" Shizuru swatted her shoulder for, Natsuki assumed, her language,

"They assured me that, while my apartment may not look _exactly_ the same, it would be similar" Natsuki raised an eyebrow at the girl, shifting her attention from the screen to the Kyoto born's face,

"And you believed them? I thought you were meant to be smart" Shizuru looked slightly offended by the comment and pouted, which Natsuki just chuckled at "Come on, you must know that they're just after your money. You're just another student to them, as far as their concerned, as a student, you shouldn't expect anything to be particularly great" She shrugged, still amused by Shizuru's pout,

"So Natsuki thinks I am stupid? She thinks that I am gullible?"

"That's not what I'm saying..." _'Actually I guess that kind of is what I'm saying...'_ feeling kind of bad she explained a little more, "Look, It's just that I know how these things work"

"And how does Natsuki know these things?"

"I had my own place remember?" She smirked slightly

"Yes and I do not recall there being anything wrong with it. It was a very nice apartment"

"Haha, yeah, it was once I'd spent money on it. The guy that sold it to me showed me one of the other apartments in the building first; saying that the one I would be getting would be the same. Turns out it was a dump" She wasn't even over exaggerating here, her apartment had been a complete mess when she'd seen it for the first time, she was just lucky that her father was willing to pay for the place to be sorted out.

She noticed that Shizuru seemed to be a little put off by her words and silently berated herself...she had just called her girlfriend stupid and made her worry about where she was going to spending the next year of her life,

"But, you said you're apartment was one of the more expensive ones for students didn't you?" Shizuru nodded slightly, still looking a bit annoyed "Then you might be alright. I'm not saying that it _will_ be terrible" She laughed uncomfortably "Just don't expect it to be exactly like the one you saw" She rubbed the back of her head, feeling awkward and a little guilty for saying these things. When Shizuru's expression didn't change she gave her an apologetic look, unsure what else to say.

Shizuru actually couldn't decide whether she wanted to be genuinely annoyed with Natsuki or not. The blunette had just called her stupid, and given her reason for why she thought that. But...she also realised that the girl was speaking the truth...she wasn't exactly accustomed to being treated like just another student...and she certainly hadn't had to find her own place to live before.

She had been given a dorm room at Fuuka Gakuen just like any other student who did not live in the surrounding areas, and once she'd become Kaichou she had been given even better accommodation. Natsuki, on the other hand, did have experience of finding her own place to live. It was hard to be annoyed with someone if what they were saying held some truth to it. She was interrupted from her thoughts by a sigh and a hand on her shoulder,

"Shizuru, I'm sorry. You're not stupid I just...well I guess I'm just thinking that way because of my own experience, it doesn't mean that yours will be the same" Shizuru looked in to her favourite set of emerald eyes and saw the sincerity behind them. Even so, she had to do something to get back at the girl for calling her stupid,

"I can't believe that Natsuki thinks I'm stupid" She buried her face in her hands and added some pathetic sobs to give the impression that she was crying. Of course this had the desired effect,

"What? No! Shizuru, I didn't mean it! I'm really really really sorry! Please don't cry!" Natsuki noticed the older girls shoulders were shaking and panicked even more "Crap, Shizuru I'm so sorry, I'm such an idiot! You're not stupid, you're the smartest person I know!" Shizuru's shoulders were still shaking, though Natsuki was unaware that this was because the older girl was holding in her laughter.

Shizuru had the amusement knocked out of her instantly though, when she was pulled towards the younger girl and her lips were taken in to a sweet kiss. She froze, eyes wide and utterly shocked. Natsuki soon pulled back and looked at her tentatively,

"I'm sorry...I didn't know what else to do" The blunette smiled sheepishly and Shizuru suddenly felt rather guilty for teasing the girl as she had. Natsuki was far too cute for her own good sometimes. They stayed looking at each other, Natsuki waiting for Shizuru to say something and Shizuru still in a state of shock.

"Natsuki?" The blunette jumped at the voice that was certainly _not_ Shizuru's. She turned her head stiffly to face the dark haired girl, who was sat on the floor in front of the couch, looking curiously between the biker and ex-Kaichou. Heat rushed to Natsuki's cheeks as she realised that Mikoto must have seen their brief kiss.

"Y-yeah?" She refused to look at the older girl beside her, knowing that she would just see amusement swimming in her crimson eyes...if she wasn't still annoyed with her anyway...

"How long have you and Kaichou-san been a couple?" She gave Natsuki a funny look when the biker made a startled noise, obviously not expecting such a question, "You are a couple right? Mai said that only couples kiss each other like that. And when they really love each other they have s..." Natsuki's hand flew out to cover the girl's mouth before she said something entirely embarrassing.

Shizuru's highly amused chuckle made Natsuki turn to glare at the girl, though the glare became less intense when she saw the slight hint of pink on the Kyoto-born's cheeks. Apparently she wasn't the only one who found their current situation moderately embarrassing. Natsuki turned back to face Mikoto, who had not even tried to remove the hand over her mouth. The blunette slowly pulled her hand away...

"People who love each other do have sex right?"

"Gah!" Natsuki's hand instantly shot back to its previous position, her face now almost purple. She seriously felt like she was about to overheat. The only thought in her mind was; how could she get out of this situation? She could feel the couch shaking slightly as Shizuru silently laughed, which was not helping in the slightest.

Shizuru was indeed finding the whole thing _incredibly _amusing. The way Mikoto so innocently said these things, coupled with how red Natsuki's face was...it was all very humorous. Her stomach ached as she held in what she was sure would be loud laughter. Only when she was sure that she could contain her laughter did she decide to rescue her girlfriend by speaking,

"Yes Mikoto-chan, people who love each other do have sex" The Kyoto born did find it slightly odd that a girl of Mikoto's age needed to have these things explained to her...especially since the younger girl had spent a decent amount of time around Nao.

Natsuki removed her hand from the girl's mouth and was relieved when she didn't immediately say anything else. Mikoto had her attention on Shizuru and looked content with the simple answer she had been given...until she started to look between the two older females again. Natsuki could almost see the cogs turning in the girls head and she had an awful feeling she knew what was coming. When the question came the blunette was eternally grateful that Mikoto chose to direct it at Shizuru,

"But...you're both girls. Mai only explained how a man and a woman had sex...how do two women do it?" Natsuki couldn't help it, she burst out laughing. Shizuru's face was priceless! The older girl looked very much like a deer caught in headlights, her eyes wide and a blush on her cheeks.

Shizuru had never even considered having this conversation with anyone. She certainly hadn't expected to be in a position where she would have to explain lesbian sex to a 15 year old. Normally she wouldn't have had such a problem with it, but having Natsuki sat next to her made things rather awkward. How was she meant to talk about these things when her girlfriend was right next to her? If she were to explain things to Mikoto it would be like telling the girl what she wanted to do to Natsuki...which was far too embarrassing to even consider.

She shot her still laughing girlfriend a displeased look. She did feel a bit better when she noticed that Natsuki was laughing around a fierce blush, obviously finding the situation embarrassing too...not that it took much to embarrass the poor girl. The Kyoto born turned her attention back to Mikoto, who was still eyeing her expectantly. There was no way in hell she was having this conversation.

There had to be some way she could get around it. She floundered for a moment, something that was incredibly rare and possibly even unheard of for the always brilliant, practically perfect Kaichou-sama.

"Google it" Natsuki suddenly spoke up, shocking everyone in the room...including Natsuki herself, who had been thinking the phrase but had not been planning to actually _say_ it. She was under no illusion that Mikoto googling 'sex between two women' would yield good results, especially if Mai got wind of it.

"Natsuki!" Shizuru scolded, obviously not impressed with her contribution to the conversation,

"What? It's better than what you were suggesting!" _'That's the last time I help you out of an embarrassing situation Fujino!'_

"I didn't suggest anything"

"Exactly!" Natsuki chuckled at her girlfriend, who was still a little flushed and then turned to face Mikoto, who looked a little confused "Why don't you ask Mai later?" Mikoto did not look particularly pleased with this response; after all, she had two people before her, who would surely be able to explain it better than Mai could.

She nodded in the end though and turned back to her game, leaving a still heavily blushing Natsuki and a slightly calmer Shizuru to give each other relieved looks. The pair then chuckled lightly at what had just happened, it was rather amusing really in hind sight.

* * *

><p>A couple of hours later and Mikoto was flaked out on one of the beds in the room, snoring lightly, which Shizuru had found rather amusing. Natsuki was so used to the noise that she didn't even really notice it. The blunette was in actual fact feeling a little awkward. They'd spent the last couple of hours playing her Xbox. She and Mikoto had easily educated Shizuru about the ways of the Xbox and the Kyoto born had actually enjoyed playing for a little while.<p>

Now though, they were sat in silence, watching some documentary about the wildlife of Japan. It was interesting enough if you liked that kind of thing Natsuki supposed...actually she would probably have enjoyed it somewhat had she not been feeling awkward. She was feeling that way because for some reason she didn't like the silence between her and Shizuru.

The absence of conversation was odd. Shizuru was usually nattering away about random things, for example, usually she would be commenting on what they were watching, which annoyed Natsuki to no end most of the time. The older girl was strangely quiet now though, which Natsuki found to be worse than the girl talking through a programme.

Shizuru had a very good reason to not be making comments about the documentary; she had no idea what was happening in it. She was too caught up in her own thoughts. When they had settled down to watch TV for a while her mind had been suddenly given the time to evaluate the conversation she'd had with Nao earlier. It was only now that she'd had the chance to think about it that she realised just _how _strange it really had been.

Nao was certainly not known for being forgiving or apologetic, even in jest, so Shizuru assumed that the girl must have been somewhat honest with her. But, she hadn't sounded particularly forgiving, and the Kyoto born wondered if Nao truly had forgiven her at all or if she had just said she had at Natsuki's insistence.

Natsuki had said that she would talk to the red head but Shizuru hadn't expected her to do so almost straight away, and she certainly hadn't expected Nao to pay any heed to whatever had been said. Granted she hadn't seen the two interact much since they had become 'friends' but she couldn't see Nao suddenly doing something just because Natsuki had told her to. In fact she was fairly sure that the red head would do the _opposite _just to annoy the blunette.

Yes, she knew that Nao did care for Natsuki in some way, but it just wasn't in the nature of their strange friendship to be particularly nice to each other. Unless of course, they only behaved that way when in the others presence. She supposed that it may have been a way for them to not lose face to each other by acting that way. But when they weren't together maybe they didn't feel the need to pretend that they didn't like each other.

Not that it wasn't obvious that they liked each other anyway. Even though she had only seen them together a couple of times she could tell by the way that they bickered that they weren't actually trying to be nasty; it was just how they were. They were both stubborn, brash and somewhat aggressive people, for them to be any other way would be incredibly strange. But, Natsuki didn't act that way with her...not really anyway. And she'd noticed at the graduation party that Nao hadn't been so rude to anyone else there...

She knew that a lot of people, boys in particular, showed affection by being a little cruel and insensitive towards those that they cared about. Mai and Tate's relationship had been that way for a long while hadn't it? Maybe the way they treated each other was their way of showing affection then. That seemed quite a likely conclusion...and she wasn't sure she liked where her mind was leading her with this information. Nao couldn't...?

No, certainly not. Nao may have been willing to put up with Natsuki as a friend, but nothing more. And she was fairly certain that the same could be said for Natsuki...but, they were quite similar. She was sure that Nao would have a lot more in common with Natsuki than she did. And the red head would of course be at Fuuka Gakuen with Natsuki until the blunette graduated...which would give them plenty of time to get to know each other better. And during that time she would be at Fuuka University, half way across town.

She needed to stop thinking like that. She was being ridiculous. There was no proof what so ever of any of this, and really, she should not even be entertaining the idea. It had taken her years to worm her way in to the biker's heart, she highly doubted that Nao would be able to do the same in mere weeks. Even if Natsuki was more open and friendly these days she still guarded herself pretty well.

But, if Natsuki had opened up enough to let Shizuru in, it did mean that she could let someone else in if they earned her trust. If not Nao, then somebody else...

Natsuki, who had been glancing at her girlfriend absently for past few minutes, was beginning to get a little worried. She could see that something was troubling the older girl. Her eyes were unfocused as if she were lost in thought and she could tell from the slight frown that Shizuru wasn't thinking anything particularly good.

"Shizuru? You ok?" The Kyoto born turned to face her, and then did something that Natsuki hadn't seen her do for the past few days. She hid her emotions completely behind her perfected mask, smiling politely. She then followed this up with the rather predictable verbal response of;

"Of course, I am with my Natsuki" This irritated the blunette, why would Shizuru feel the need to give _her _one of those awful, fake, polite smiles? She hadn't had one directed at her for quite some time, since the older girl only used to use them on her to cover up the yearning and love in her eyes. She had no reason to do that now though, so why...?

Natsuki knew that it would be a pointless endeavour to ask Shizuru why she had done this. She also knew that it would do no good for her to tell the older girl that she knew something was up. Shizuru was almost as stubborn as she was sometimes and when that mask went up, even Natsuki had little chance of prying information from her.

She didn't know why it was bothering her so much in actuality, it wasn't like Shizuru didn't hide how she felt the majority of the time. But...it did hurt a little to know that the older girl was hiding something from her. She just hoped that it wasn't anything to do with her.

Shizuru watched as Natsuki returned her attention to the TV screen, her arms folded across her chest in obvious irritation. It actually took her a few seconds to realise why the girl was acting that way and when she figured out that it was her fault she felt guilty. Natsuki's question had startled her and when taken by surprise it was her natural defence to pull up her mask.

She hadn't meant to offend the younger girl. But, she also didn't want Natsuki to know what she was thinking about. Of course, she knew that the younger girl wasn't a mind reader, but if the blunette saw the emotions in her eyes she would question her about it, and Natsuki had a way of making her talk. The young biker was her weak spot after all. That being said, she couldn't stand being the cause of Natsuki's current frustration and sought a way to make the girl feel better without telling her what was going on in her head.

She peered over to the bed, where Mikoto was still conked out before making her move. She slid over to Natsuki, lifted the younger girl's arm around her shoulders and snuggled in to her side. She felt the biker stiffen but didn't move away,

"Kanin na, I didn't mean to upset you"

"You didn't" Natsuki lied...though it was difficult to stay mad at the girl when she had her body pressed against her. Shizuru saw right through the lie and leaned up to kiss the girl's cheek as another apology. The younger girls face lit up in a blush instantly at the contact, though not as fiercely as Shizuru had been expecting.

The older girl turned her attention to the TV as she felt Natsuki relaxing in to their position. It wasn't long before she felt Natsuki's fingers playing with her hair absently with the hand that had been draped around her shoulders. She took this to mean that the girl had forgiven her and smiled softly as she too relaxed. She knew that her thoughts would re-visit her later on, but for now she was happy enough just enjoying her time with the girl she loved.

"Did you know, some people believe that Asian black bear spirits can control the weather?"

"Thanks for that completely useless information Shizuru"

"You are welcome Natsuki. And you said I was stupid"

"-sigh-"

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> I told you that things weren't going to be smooth sailing didn't I? :P Considering they've only been together for less than a week at this point they're both getting pretty insecure pretty fast eh? Honeymoon period? Psht, what honeymoon period? XD

Not as long as the last chapter, sorry if you were expecting another one like that.

Also, I'm not sure I got Mikoto's age right? She was in the same year as Nao, who would have been moving up to High School at the end of the anime...meaning that they would be 15 right? Turning 16 during the new school year? D:

On a completely random note; I found Katakoi Enka on my pc during the week and I thought it was kind of weird that I could still sing along to it perfectly, even though I haven't listened to it in a couple of years... I must have listened to it a lot huh? lol It also reminded me how much I LOVE Shizuru's voice. Or Shindou Naomi's voice...whatever XD LOVE LOVE LOVE :D

Thanks for reading once again and don't forget to leave a review if you enjoyed it ;) ...A lot of people added this to their alerts after last chapter...but I don't think any of you reviewed...A review would be nice :(

~IlliterateKoi~


	8. The Norm

**Disclaimer:** I barely have enough money to keep up with my smoking addiction, so I certainly don't own Mai HiME or any of its characters, Sunrise gets that honour.

**AN:** Wow, I can't believe I'm on to chapter 8 already. For those of you who are interested I've got about 20 chapters planned out so we've still got a fair way to go :)

Thank you to those of you who took the time to review/favourite/alert, I'm really am grateful :)

Fairly long chapter ahead! :D (I've only read through this once so there's bound to be more mistakes than usual, sorry in advance XD) Enjoy;

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><p>Barricade<p>

Chapter 8 – The Norm

_"Every day, we make memories.. Let's paint lives with happy ones.." _

* * *

><p>Mai watched with a slightly concerned gaze as her blue haired friend stared down at a rather large Japanese History text book, one hand propping her head up and the other tapping a pencil lightly against a writing pad. She was concerned for two reasons. Number 1; Natsuki was studying. Number 2; Natsuki had been staring at the same page for half an hour.<p>

"Natsuki?"

"Hmm?" The biker didn't look up at her and sounded rather distracted, but before the red head could say anything Natsuki turned to the next page, as if she had been reading after all. Mai decided that maybe she was just being too motherly, which she was certainly known for, and turned her attention back to her laptop.

The two of them were currently lay on their bellies, each on their own respective beds and had been in that position for the past hour or so. Mai had to admit it had been somewhat shocking when Natsuki had pulled out the massive text book and settled down with it saying something along the lines of 'I'm not going to fail my extra lessons and end up in the same year as Yuuki!'

But then again, when she'd gotten home yesterday the blunette had borrowed her laptop and was looking at an English revision website. It was very strange. More disconcerting was the fact that when the older girl hadn't been studying she had just moped around the apartment or lay on her bed staring at the ceiling for hours on end with a scowl on her face.

It was definitely strange to think that Natsuki would voluntarily study, so it was natural that Mai would assume something was wrong with the blunette. Perhaps she was being a bit mean by thinking that though; after all, Natsuki's main reason for skipping classes in the first place had been because she wanted to avenge her mother's death, not because she wanted to fail her exams and re-take a year. And once her revenge had been settled the blunette's time had been taken up by dealing with the aftermath of the Carnival, and just lately, Shizuru. Mai snickered to herself at the last thought.

When she'd returned from work on Wednesday she'd entered the apartment to find Natsuki asleep on the couch, her head resting in Shizuru's lap. She hadn't known what to do at first; she had actually found it quite awkward. Yes, she knew that Natsuki was now dating Shizuru but it was entirely different seeing it with her own eyes. She didn't find it awkward for the reasons most people would have, she found it that way because this was Natsuki. _Natsuki_ with her head resting in _anyone's _lap was entirely weird.

Still, the way Shizuru had her arm draped around the blunette's waist while looking down at Natsuki with such affection...it was undeniably cute. Mai wished that she could fall asleep with Tate like that. Shizuru had said something about Natsuki not getting enough sleep the night before and had then very gently woken the biker.

Natsuki had of course freaked out when she'd noticed that Mai was there, which had been incredibly amusing for both the red head and the ex-Kaichou. Mai had left Natsuki and Shizuru to say their goodbyes and had then been told by the blunette not to mention what she'd seen to anyone. She could tell that Natsuki was in love. She had to be if she was acting so soft around the Kyoto born.

That brought her back to the present, to a Natsuki who was staring miserably down at her History text book. Perhaps she just looked that way because History was by far her least favourite subject but...Mai had a feeling it was more than that. Maybe she was missing Shizuru already? It had been two days since she'd seen the older girl and Mai knew that she missed Tate after as little as a few hours.

After another five minutes of Natsuki doing nothing but tap her pencil against the still blank note pad she decided to speak up,

"You ok Natsuki?"

"Hmm?" This time Natsuki did look over at her "Yeah, I'm fine" Mai shrugged and turned her gaze back to her laptop screen before she spoke again,

"How are things going with you and Kaichou-san?"

"OK" The rather bland answer made Mai turn her head again, her eye's scrutinising her friend, who was still looking at her text book,

"OK? You don't sound too convinced...don't tell me you messed something up already Natsuki!" The blue haired biker sat up at the accusation and Mai was subjected to the Kuga death glare,

"What? No! And anyway, why do you assume it would be me that messed something up?" Feeling sufficiently threatened by the glare Mai decided that perhaps she had jumped conclusions there...but...

"Well, did Kaichou-san do something then?" From what Natsuki had said that seemed like a possible reason for the girl's glum mood, but when Natsuki sighed heavily and fell back down to her bed, her head now resting on the open text book, she wasn't so sure.

"No" Came the slightly muffled and annoyed response.

"Well, what's wrong then? I know something's up Natsuki" She regarded her friend with a sympathetic gaze, there was only one other thing she could think of "You're not having second thoughts are you?"

"No, not at all" The red head was actually relatively impressed at how Natsuki spoke without any hesitation or even a blush, considering the topic of conversation "It's just...And I know I'm being stupid but..." Natsuki sounded exasperated, like she was annoyed with herself for even thinking whatever it was she was about to say. Mai waited patiently as her friend buried her head further in to the text book in frustration.

"What if she meets someone at Uni? Someone pretty and smart and funny... Arg! I told you it was stupid!" The blunette sat up again, crossed her legs, her elbows atop them and dropped her head in to her hands; an obvious stance of frustration.

Mai blinked at her...several times. Natsuki was worried about Shizuru meeting someone else? Well...she hadn't expected that. She hadn't thought that Natsuki would be possessive enough to be bothered about something like that. In all honesty she would have thought that Shizuru would be the one stressing over such things.

Though now that she thought about it she could understand it from Natsuki's point of view. Shizuru was indeed very popular; there wasn't a person at school who didn't know of the amazing, gorgeous, elegant, Kyoto-ben speaking Kaichou. Shizuru had a rather large following and the Kyoto born would no doubt be just as popular at University. But...she couldn't see Shizuru going off with someone else. The way the older girl had looked at Natsuki while on their couch the other day; with such love and affection...it just didn't seem possible. Plus, it was no secret what Shizuru had done during the Carnival, the lengths she had gone to to ensure Natsuki's safety.

"Natsuki" She waited for the girl to look at her "Kaichou-san is completely devoted to you, there's no way she would leave you for someone else" She knew that she shouldn't really say things like that, since she certainly couldn't tell the future but...she was being a friend, and this is what friends did "And what you said about her meeting someone that's pretty, smart and funny? _You're_ all those things you idiot" She smiled when Natsuki blushed lightly at her words.

"Um...right. T-Thanks, I guess" The older girl rubbed the back of her neck in slight embarrassment, though there was a small smile tugging at her lips.

"Anyway, it's waaaay too early in your relationship to be worrying about things like that, just enjoy it Natsuki" She felt kind of strange, having such a conversation with Fuuka Gakuen's resident Ice Princess. She could remember a time, not so long ago in fact, when even the mention of the word 'relationship' to the older girl would have yielded comments like 'I don't have time for stupid things like that' or 'Relationships are pointless and a waste of time'. Natsuki sure had changed.

"Yeah, you're right...as usual" Apparently her little talk had done wonders for the blue haired biker, who had returned to her prone position on the bed,

"Of course I am, now get back to your studying, unless you want to spend your next year in classes with Nao-chan"

"Yes mother" Natsuki sniggered, but did turn her attention to the book in front of her and, to Mai's relief, actually started taking notes. The sound of lead scratching across paper and the tapping of keys on a laptop was all that filled the apartment for a short while. Though Natsuki broke it after too long,

"How's things with you and Tate anyway?" The blunette wasn't completely insensitive, she knew that it was only polite to ask how her friends relationship was going since Mai had asked about hers. To her amusement Mai seemed startled by her question and it took her a while to respond,

"They're... ok I guess" Natsuki couldn't help but laugh and then did the best impression of Mai's voice that she could muster,

"You don't sound too convinced...you didn't mess something up already did you _Mai?_" The red heads subsequent glare only fuelled her amusement further, pulling a series of chuckles from her throat,

"Sorry, it was too good to pass up. So...um, what's up?" She felt ridiculous...and girly. She was a girl yes, but girly, she was not. It felt weird to be having 'relationship' chats. But, she supposed, it was just another one of those 'normal' things that a 17 year old girl did with her friends. Mai sighed heavily,

"Well, nothing really but...there's just always _something_ that interrupts or gets in the way when we're going on a date or whatever"

"By something you mean octopus head right?" Natsuki sniggered again, much to Mai's chagrin,

"Don't call her that Natsuki, it's cruel!"

"You knew who I meant though didn't you?" The biker smirked. Really, Mai should have known better than to try and have this conversation with Natsuki, she was about as much help as a chocolate teapot.

"That's not the point. Urg, just go back to your History"

"Sorry Haha you know I'm no good at this stuff"

"Yes, I had noticed" Mai's monotone voice was followed by silence, which reigned for a few minutes... until once again Natsuki broke it, leading Mai to wonder if two days of silence had forced the girls voice box to continuously work to catch up on lost time.

"You want to know what I think you should do?"

"Not really" Mai huffed, her eyes glued to the laptop screen in front of her, she was certain that whatever Natsuki had to say would _not _be helpful.

"Oh come on, it'll solve your Tate problem I promise" The red head gave the blunette a scrutinising look, trying to see if she was being serious. Natsuki looked pretty sincere...it couldn't hurt to hear what she had to say really could it?

"Ok fine, what it is?" Almost instantly Natsuki face morphed in to a look of amusement, a wide grin on her face,

"Date Kanzaki instead"

"Wha...? Natsuki!" A pillow was flung at the bikers head, it connected but Natsuki didn't care, Mai's face had been priceless!

"Hahahaha!"

* * *

><p>Reito paused in his climb as a sudden sneeze caught him by surprise...someone was talking about him it would seem. He smiled slightly to himself and shook his head before continuing up the stairs. He was treading carefully, since technically he wasn't supposed to be in this building, it being a girls dorm complex and all. He wasn't all that bothered though, since he knew that if anything, should a girl see him, they would be over joyed and probably try to invite him in to their room.<p>

He reached the floor he wanted and then began the task of finding the right apartment. He flicked his golden brown eyes over the numbers hung on each door before coming to the right one and knocking on it lightly. He waited patiently, running a hand through his dark hair to make sure it was falling perfectly. When the door was finally opened he smiled politely,

"Shizuru-san, good afternoon" The Kyoto born returned his smile, also a polite one; it was a habit that neither of them could get out of.

"Retio-san, what a surprise" Shizuru did not looked surprised in the least, though Reito figured that even she _was _surprised she wouldn't let it show,

"I just thought I'd pay you a visit, we haven't had a chance to talk much recently and I miss our afternoon tea chats" He chuckled lightly, as did Shizuru,

"Very well, please, come in" She moved back in to her apartment and left Reito to close the door behind himself and take off his shoes. He then made his way towards the kitchen area of the apartment where Shizuru was preparing some tea. The tall boy waited silently, leaning against one of the kitchen tops as he observing the girl before him.

The Kyoto born seemed much more relaxed than he was used to, there was an air of contentedness about her and he smiled slightly. He was glad that Shizuru was willing to even let him in to her apartment, he hadn't been round for quite some time, due to the complications arising from the Carnival and its aftermath. He had truly missed the now ex-Kaichou, in particular he missed their often subtly inappropriate conversations.

They used to sit in the council room, sipping tea, and talking about all manner of things, though their conversation usually revolved around girls...Shizuru of course was generally only talking about one girl in particular, where as he would talk about several that had caught his eye during the week. It was fun and a great way for them to relax after a stressful day. Being the School Council's President and Vice President could be very taxing.

"Ara, Reito-san" He was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of delightful Kyoto-ben and had to stop himself from smiling sheepishly at the smirking girl in front of him "I do hope that you were not thinking inappropriate thoughts" He chuckled and accepted the offered cup of tea,

"Of course not, we gentlemen don't do things like that" They moved to the couch and sat down, both sipping their tea with a smile,

"Oh? So Reito-san thinks himself to be a gentleman? A chivalrous knight perhaps?"

"But of course. I would not hesitate to rescue any maiden in distress" He closed his eyes to relish the hot liquid as it ran down his throat, Shizuru was truly good at making tea "And if they should offer me a thank you gift, naturally I would accept graciously"

"Ara, and what sort of gift would they give you in thanks for your bravery?" Shizuru was smiling in to her cup, she had missed this too.

"Oh, I do believe it is customary to reward your rescuer with a kiss is it not?"

"Well, surely the reward should be based on how difficult the rescue was hmm?"

"Ah, you are right. Though of course I am far too gentlemanly to take advantage of any girl I had just recued, even if she did offer me more than a kiss" They were both highly amused by this point, though an outsider would be unable to tell. If someone else were to see them, they would merely see two people, calmly sipping tea as if they were talking about the weather.

"Of course, you would never even think of doing such lewd things" Reito chuckled lightly,

"Now now Shizuru-san, you make me sound like a pervert"

"Ara, I do not recall saying such a thing" It was all in the lilt of her voice though,

"You didn't have to" They shared another small chuckle before turning their attention back to their tea. It really was good. Reito glanced at his friend after a little while, and noticed the distant expression on her face, the smile playing on her lips, her eyes closed. She was obviously thinking about something nice. He smirked,

"Having some inappropriate thoughts of your own Shizuru-san? About a certain blue haired biker perhaps?" He laughed at the dreamy look on Shizuru's face as she turned to look at him, it was soon covered up with a polite mask though, which made him chuckle again,

"I take it things are going well then?" He asked casually while pouring himself and the Kyoto born another cup of tea,

"Of course" He caught the slight undertone in the girl's voice as she said this and peered at her curiously. Those crimson eyes did look happy but...there was something else there and even if he was by no means a master at reading Shizuru, he knew that something was bothering her.

"Are you sure?" His brow furrowed slightly as the chestnut haired girl shifted in her seat in a nervous manner...this was very strange. "What is it Shizuru?" He dropped the formalities, wanting to remind the girl beside him that they were friends and that she could trust him,

"Well... I suppose I'm just being silly really, but..." There was something not quite right about the Kaichou of Fuuka Gakuen struggling for words. He gave her a reassuring smile and waited for her to continue. She gave a heavy sigh "I am just worried that while I am away at University Natsuki will meet somebody and fall for them. I know it is irrational but... I cannot help thinking that way"

Reito found it somewhat humorous that the almightily Fujino Shizuru was feeling insecure. She was beautiful, funny and kind, and she was certainly popular. Everybody wanted a piece of the Kyoto born beauty, so for her to be feeling insecure seemed a little strange. Surely she knew how lucky anyone would be to have her?

Then he realised that it was actually quite normal for Shizuru to feel that way, especially since she was dating one of the very few people who had not fallen for her charm or beauty. Natsuki had never been interested in Shizuru because of her status or looks, in fact, from what Shizuru had told him, Natsuki hadn't liked her at all when they first met. And apart from that, he supposed that finally getting what you'd wanted for so long would not be easy to accept. And considering that the biker had never really showed an interest in dating _anyone _he could understand the Kyoto born's insecurities. It must be difficult for Shizuru to believe that Natsuki truly did feel the same for her.

"Shizuru, I may not know Kuga-san very well but I am pretty sure that she isn't the type of person to do things half-heartedly. She does not come across as somebody that would go ahead with something like this unless she was sure about it" He paused and gave her a warm smile, "Besides, why would she want to look elsewhere when she has you?" He winked at her, which earned him a raised eyebrow and slight smirk.

He thought carefully about what to say next, being a guy he wasn't really used to having this type of conversation, but he would certainly try,

"Obviously I cannot say that she will never meet somebody else. But the same could be said for you" She gave him a confused look,

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it is also possible that you could fall for someone else is it not?" She turned her attention to her tea cup, staring at the liquid inside it as if contemplating that statement, "There is no way to know what will happen in the future. All relationships are like this Shizuru, so try not to worry about it" He gave her a soft smile "You've been waiting for this for a long time so just relax and enjoy it. You deserve to be happy"

"Ookini, Reito" She gave him a small smile of her own. Despite the size he could tell that it was one of the Kyoto born's rare genuine smiles; it reached her eyes and was clearly another way for her to express her thanks. He smiled back and then cocked his head to one side, a smirk on his face and his eyes closed. His demeanour changed from comforting to mischievous in a second,

"Of course, if things don't work out, I would be more than willing to help you out" The connotations behind his words did not go over Shizuru's head and she chuckled lightly,

"Ara ara, somebody thinks very highly of themselves"

"Well, I'm just saying that I know how to handle a woman's needs" He winked and the Kyoto born had to actually suppress a gag at her friends behaviour,

"Kanin na Reito-san, but I do believe that you are the wrong sex to handle my needs" She sipped her tea to hide her rather amused smile,

"Ah, does sex really matter?" She wasn't sure if Reito was talking about the act of sex or sex as in gender, but she could answer both in the same way,

"Of course, sex is very important" She paused and shifted her gaze to the dark haired boy's eyes, "Do you not agree?"

"I suppose it depends on the person" He smirked, knowing exactly what Shizuru would insinuate after being given that answer,

"Ara, so Reito-san would perhaps like a guy if he were interesting enough?" She feigned a shocked expression,

"Oh, I don't know about that. What about you?" He asked while smiling a little mischievously into his tea cup,

"I do believe that I have already stated my preference"

"Preference yes, but that does not mean you wouldn't ever consider it now does it?"

"No doubt you would like to be that 'consideration'?"

"As I said, I would be willing to help you out" Once again they were both rather amused, but looked calm as always. There really was nothing like a good inappropriate chat over even better tea.

* * *

><p>"<em>Hello?"<em>

"Does Natsuki ever check her caller ID? She never seems to know who is calling her" Shizuru smiled while holding her mobile to her ear, her other hand pulling strands of hair in front of her face as she checked for split ends. She was currently lay on her bed, relaxing as she wound down and got ready to sleep,

"_Yeah, I just -__**Kuga what the hell? You've got to be cheating!-**__ How am I cheating?__**-Because you're still killing me!- **__And that proves I'm cheating how exactly?" _Natsuki sounded incredibly smug and Shizuru found herself wanting to chuckle...then she realised who the other voice had belonged to and she felt her heart tighten slightly...it was not a pleasant feeling.

"Ara, Natsuki is cheating?" She was, of course, referring to the conversation she'd overheard, but the sentence tasted awful on her tongue and she suddenly wished she had worded her question differently,

"_Don't you start too Shizuru! Besides, I don't need to cheat, Nao's crap enough as it is __**–Shut the hell up Kuga! I swear to...Agghh! Cut it out! How could you even kill me from there?-**_" The red head sounded entirely pissed off, while Natsuki's light chuckle clearly signified that she found the whole thing rather amusing. After a few seconds the blunette spoke up again, _"Sorry Shizuru, what's up?" _Finally, Natsuki's attention was in the right place,

"Nothing really, I just wanted to hear your beautiful voice" She sounded like her usual teasing, happy self, but in reality there was a certain amount of discomfort gnawing away at her. Obviously she knew that Natsuki and Nao spent time with each other outside of school, but it was almost 10 o'clock at night and the thought of the red head being in Natsuki's apartment that late did not sit very well with her.

"_Shizuru! Do you have to say things like that?" _Hearing Natsuki's mildly embarrassed voice did cheer her up a little and she relaxed slightly,

"I only speak the truth, would Natsuki prefer me to lie?"

"_Natsuki would prefer it if Shizuru didn't tease her constantly!" _The way the biker mimicked her way of speaking did wonders for her mood and she found herself chuckling lightly.

"Kanin na, I have told you before that I cannot help myself"

"_Yeah Yeah" _Natsuki also sounded a little amused, probably due to the Kyoto born's chuckling _"So...Um..."_ The older girl smiled fondly as Natsuki fumbled over something to say,

"How was your day Natsuki?" She offered, helping her girlfriend out by starting the conversation,

"_Boring...I studied Japanese History for __**hours**__! I think I actually miss Midori, at least she made history seem moderately amusing" _Shizuru at first thought she was hearing things...Natsuki, studying? _Voluntarily?_ Surely not.

"Natsuki was studying?"

"_You don't have to sound so shocked! I'm not that bad, and besides, I don't want to end up in the same year as a certain sponge brained idiot do I? __**–OI!-**__"_ The clearly annoyed red head's voice was followed by rustling as Natsuki moved suddenly _"Ow! What the hell Yuuki! __**–That's what you get you dumb dog!- **__Quit calling me that!"_ From what Shizuru could gather, Nao had thrown something at the blue haired biker. As the two continued to bicker on the other end of the line, Shizuru began to get frustrated; Nao was cutting in to her conversation with Natsuki! She shifted on her bed a bit, turning on to her side and following the lines of her curtains with her eyes while she waited. After another minute of squabbling she'd had enough of waiting though,

"Perhaps I should leave you to it Natsuki?" Natsuki uttered a quick 'one sec' which was followed by more rustling and then what sounded like a door being opened and then closed. Judging by the slight interference the older girl could hear she guessed that Natsuki was now standing outside the apartment,

"_Sorry Shizuru. How was your day?"_ The tawny haired girl, although still a little annoyed, felt better knowing that Natsuki was no longer in the same room as Nao, which would hopefully mean no more interruptions,

"It was rather pleasant actually, Reito-san decided to pay me a visit, we hadn't really spoken properly for a while so it was nice to catch up" Of course they had done very little catching up but she highly doubted that Natsuki would be impressed with the main topic of their conversation.

"_Oh, um...I didn't think guys were allowed in to the girls dorm building?" _There was something slightly off about Natsuki's voice, but without being able to see the younger girls face Shizuru was unable to identify it,

"Fufufu, you are right, however, Reito-san is such a charmer he usually ends up being exempt from such rules"

"_You think he's charming?"_ The Kyoto born now definitely knew that something was bothering the biker. That question was not the sort of thing that Natsuki would usually ask. _'Is she...?'_

"There are many girls who find him to be incredibly charming"

"_That isn't what I asked" _There was an undertone in Natsuki's voice that Shizuru hadn't ever heard before, it was almost threatening and it answered her thoughts, but she still had to ask,

"Ara, is Natsuki jealous?" Her tone was not teasing as one may have expected, but slightly shocked. Yes, she knew that Natsuki was not fond of her fan club, but she figured that was just because they annoyed the blunette. This was different though, this was Reito. He was her friend and well...a _he!_

"_Will you please just answer the question Shizuru" _It sounded almost like Natsuki was talking through her teeth, which were probably gritted. Shizuru could understand her girlfriend's frustration, if only a little. She supposed that to Natsuki it probably seemed like she was avoiding the question, which in many cases hinted at a guilty conscience. But still...finding someone charming wasn't really that bad was it?

But this _was_ Reito. He was particularly well known for using his charm on any girl that caught his eye, which usually resulted in said girl falling head over heels for the tall, handsome young man. And with the amount of time she had spent in Reito's presence she realised that Natsuki's fears were not completely ridiculous.

"Natsuki, you do not need to worry about Reito-san. He is charming yes, but he does not charm _me_"

"_Good_" Shizuru found that this slightly possessive side of Natsuki was rather...sexy. It sent a surge of heat through her chest to know that Natsuki was jealous because it obviously meant that Natsuki truly did want this. That Natsuki wanted _her_. There was just something about being Natsuki's that made her...excited. Perhaps it was time to change the topic... after a quick tease,

"Anyway, Natsuki can be quite charming herself, and she is more than welcome to charm me anytime she wants" Had the biker been able to see her she would have winked for added effect, instead she had to make to do with making her tone extra teasing,

"_Riiiight..."_ Judging by the uncomfortable way the blunette spoke Shizuru could tell that the younger girl was blushing "_anyway, do you want to maybe do something tomorrow?"_

"Ara ara, is Natsuki asking me out on another date? Ikezu, I wanted to ask her to be _my_ date"

"_I wasn't aware there was a difference...but fine, ask away" _Natsuki's voice seemed to be completely back to normal now and Shizuru smiled. Yes, it was nice to know that Natsuki cared but she didn't want the biker to worry too much about these things, she was well aware what jealously could do to a relationship if left to wreak havoc.

"Actually, I was hoping that you could help me start my packing. I would like to move in to my new apartment during next week if I can" As far as the Kyoto born was concerned, as long as she got to spend time with Natsuki, the location didn't matter.

"_Oh... right. Sure, what time did you want me to come round then?" _The older girl thought that she could hear that same uneasiness from before in the girls voice but wrote it off quickly, the biker was probably just not expecting the request.

"How about..." She thought for a moment, she didn't really want to get up early on a Saturday (not that she had been getting up before noon all week anyway) but she knew that if she wanted to make any sort of dent in her packing she would need all the time she could get "11 o'clock?" There was a light chuckle from the other end of the line,

"_Will you even be conscious at that time?" _

"Of course, I will be excited to see my Natsuki!" She responded gleefully. She was looking forward to seeing her favourite blunette; it had been two whole days since she had last seen the younger girl and she was sure that she'd become addicted to the taste of her lips. She feared that if she went any longer without a kiss from the other girl her body would go in to withdrawal.

"_Right, well, if you don't answer your door I'll assume that you're still asleep and go home. So make sure you're up!" _The amusement in Natsuki's voice made the smile on Shizuru's face widen; it was nice to not only hear the biker sound that way, but to be the cause of it.

"I will be up and waiting for you, so you needn't worry"

"_**-Natsuki? Why are you outside?- **__one second Shizuru" _The Kyoto born found that although she was once again having her conversation interrupted, she did not mind as much this time...probably because the person doing the interrupting was not Nao. She listened idly to Natsuki's conversation _"Just on the phone, Nao was being an ass __**–I'm assuming that you wound her up first though?- **__Why do you always assume that these things are __**my **__fault? __**–Because they usually are. I'll see you inside-**__ Whatever" _Natsuki grumbled as the sound of a door opening and closing once again resounded through Shizuru's phone,

"Was that Tokiha-san?"

"_Yeah, she's just got in from work. I better go kick Nao out. I'll see you tomorrow, 11 o'clock, you better be up!" _Natsuki sounded like her usual self, though there was still that slight amusement in her voice,

"Of course. Goodnight Natsuki, sleep well"

"_Night Shizuru" _A silence followed that Shizuru found to be incredibly strange. Normally Natsuki would just put the phone down, usually before they were even done talking...now though she was apparently waiting for the Kyoto born to end the call.

"Is Natsuki waiting for something?"

"_Huh? No, just put the phone down already!" _

"Ara, but Natsu..."

"_Fine woman. See you tomorrow!" _The call ended immediately after Natsuki finished talking and Shizuru found herself chuckling in to her empty room (something she had tried and failed to stop herself doing). With just the threat of a tease Natsuki quickly reverted back to her usual habits, which was of course, entirely amusing to the chestnut haired girl.

* * *

><p>Natsuki hopped off her bike with practiced ease before pulling off her helmet and making her way towards the familiar building in front of her. She made the journey to Shizuru's apartment swiftly, though it wasn't because she worried about being late...which she was, by about 20 minutes. But she was pretty much always around 20 minutes late so she presumed that Shizuru would be expecting such a thing.<p>

She took the steps two at a time because she was actually quite eager to see the older girl. It had been 3 days now since she'd seen the Kyoto born, which was quite a bit of time for them to not see each other. Yes they had spoken on the phone every day but it wasn't quite the same as seeing the older girl in the flesh.

She wasted no time in knocking on the door in her usual aggressive manner and she found herself tapping her foot lightly on the stone floor in impatience. The door was soon opened, but she didn't get much of a chance to look at the person on the other side. Instead she found herself being pulled forward by hands grasping the front of her leather jacket and a pair of soft, warm lips being pressed against her own. Before she could even begin to make sense of what was happening her lips were freed and the hands on her jacket disappeared.

Her emerald eyes, which she hadn't even realised were closed, opened and her eye brows furrowed in confusion. Her features immediately softened however when she took in the girl stood before her. Shizuru was staring at her with an intense gaze, a very slight blush tinged her cheeks and there was a small smile tugging at her lips.

"Kanin na, I have wanted to do that for the past three days" Much to Natsuki's amusement Shizuru actually sounded slightly sheepish. The younger girl closed the door behind her and then stepped towards the Kyoto born, who had backed away from her slightly after their brief kiss,

"It's fine" She knew that she was probably blushing herself, but for some reason she didn't mind it. Possibly because the ex-Kaichou had also been blushing. She certainly hadn't minded the girl's actions, in fact she wished it had lasted longer, so when she was stood close enough to the older girl she leaned towards her, planning to rectify the shortness of the previous kiss.

Shizuru, who hadn't seen this coming, certainly wasn't going to complain when she felt Natsuki's lips against her own. Their lips began to move as they each revelled in the feel of the others against their own. The older girl wasn't sure if it was because she hadn't been able to do this for the past few days or because of her rather pleasant dream the night before, but she felt something take over her when Natsuki's tongue traced her lower lip.

She deepened the kiss, her tongue slipping in to the younger girl's mouth before Natsuki even had a chance to move her own. Shizuru's hands found leather clad hips and she stepped forward, pushing the biker backwards and in to her apartment door. She pressed her body against Natsuki's while her hands moved upwards, one to the girls waist and one to smooth skin of the bikers neck.

Natsuki released a puff of air from her nose, feeling Shizuru's body pressed against her own as it was made her head swim and she brought her hands up to thread through chestnut hair to anchor herself. She also used her hold on the girl's silky tresses to pull her deeper in to the kiss. Shizuru responded to this with a small moan as her tongue continued to dominate Natsuki's mouth.

The Kyoto born was struggling to maintain her control, feeling Natsuki's leather clad body press against her front was threatening to haze her thoughts over completely and she knew that she would likely end up a highly aroused mess for the rest of the day if things continued much longer. Instead of pulling away though her body had other ideas and her hips twitched ever so slightly. The small movement, given how close their bodies were, was enough to pull another soft moan from her throat and another exhalation of air against her face from Natsuki.

The fingers in her hair tightened their hold slightly and she still had the presence of mind to feel rather pleased that she wasn't the only one being affected by their heated kiss. Unfortunately Shizuru's lungs were beginning to protest, she was not able to pull in enough oxygen to continue the wonderful kiss and so she pulled away, panting heavily.

She didn't go far, she was far too dizzy to let go of the younger girl anyway and instead chose to lean her forehead against Natsuki's. She could hear as well as feel Natsuki's heavy breathing against her face as the girl's hands slid from her hair to her shoulders. The Kyoto born tried to reign in her emotions, she could feel that desperate desire she'd been keeping at bay trying to claw its way to the surface.

Unbeknownst to the older girl, Natsuki was having similar problems. As she attempted to steady her breathing she was also trying to ignore any thoughts pertaining to Shizuru's moans. The sound of them just made the blunette feel...hot. And she wanted to hear them again. Part of her mind knew exactly how to go about that, but her modesty was warring with it valiantly. She had never even thought about such things a few weeks ago, and now it seemed like every time she was in the older girl's presence she couldn't think of anything else.

But still, her modesty meant that these things were destined to stay in her mind and she would not act on them, at least not yet anyway. When her mind came to this decision she also came out of her daze slightly and opened her eyes. Shizuru's face was very close to her own but she could see the blush on her friend's cheeks. The older girl's eyes were still closed and she also seemed to be taking a bit longer to regain her breath.

The Kyoto born's breathing was shaky and deep as she tried to calm herself down, her breaths slowly became more even and after another minute or so she finally pulled away, a wide smile on her face and her eyes twinkling. Natsuki watched as the girl turned away from her and walked further in to her apartment,

"Thank you Natsuki, that kiss definitely makes up for you being 20 minutes late"

"Huh?" She blinked at the girls back before the haze was completely lifted and her brain started working properly again... a deep blush flooded her face "Shizuru!"

"Fufufu"

* * *

><p>Natsuki was glad that she'd changed in to her black T-shirt and jeans before they left Shizuru's apartment, she was fairly sure that this task would be even more difficult had she been wearing her leathers.<p>

The blunette scowled at the back of Shizuru's head, as the girl was walking slightly ahead of her. How had she ended up carrying _all_ the boxes? Even if they were flattened and only made of cardboard the sheer amount of them piled up on top of her arms made them rather difficult to carry and also moderately heavy. She had her chin resting atop the stacked cardboard in an attempt to stop them from sliding all over the place.

Shizuru was carrying no boxes, and was secretly very amused that Natsuki, despite her glaring, had not verbally complained at all. They were currently making their way back towards her apartment, having been to pick up some boxes from the school so they could pack up her things. The air was certainly starting to warm up and flowers were springing up all over the place to greet the beginning of summer. The hottest months were still a little way off though and Shizuru was fine with that, she wasn't really fond of the ridiculous heat they had in Fuuka during the summer months.

Natsuki was not at all interested in the weather at the moment, she was starting to get a little pissed off with the cardboard boxes; they just would not stop sliding about! She had to keep stopping to readjust her hold on them before any of the boxes slid off the pile and on to the floor. No doubt Shizuru would have something to say if she dropped any of them.

Thankfully they had just reached the apartment building, Natsuki had never been happier to see the dull, boring complex. Getting up the stairs proved to be rather frustrating but she managed it with minimal cursing under her breath.

Shizuru opened the door, which Natsuki was grateful for; she had half expected the older girl to pretend she'd lost her keys or something equally annoying. She moved in to the apartment and swiftly dumped the flattened boxes on the carpeted floor next to the couch, which she promptly fell in to.

"Ara, Natsuki is tired already? We haven't even started packing yet" The blunette sighed dramatically and then stood back up, giving her girlfriend a pointed look as she did so,

"Are you going to do any packing or are you going to make me do it all?" She gave the girl a slight smirk as she started to pop the boxes in to shape,

"Would Natsuki pack everything for me if I asked her to?" Shizuru smiled innocently,

"No" Was the deadpanned response, which was quickly followed by light chuckling from both girls. Shizuru glanced around the room they were currently in and decided that it was as good a place as any to start packing,

"I think we should start with my books" She said more to herself than Natsuki, but she then turned her attention to the blunette, who was standing next to her, box in hand, "We're going to need split things in to separate boxes and label them so I know what I am taking with me and what I am sending back to Kyoto"

When she moved to her new apartment she would only be able to take with her things that would fit in to her new room. Going from having an entire apartment to a single room was going to be an issue as far as belongings were concerned. She had obtained rather a lot of things over the last year since she had lived in her current apartment. She was just thankful that her parents were more than willing to have her things flown back to Kyoto so that she wouldn't have to literally throw out most of her belongings.

"Right, so, books first?" Natsuki said in a plain tone, obviously planning on going about the entire process in a very methodical way.

"Yes, and also, I need you to help me get rid of things that there is no reason for me to keep" This was the main reason she had asked Natsuki to help her with her packing, the younger girl would not think twice about throwing pointless items away. Of course the biker would not be insensitive; she would obviously make sure things did not have some sort of sentimental value to them before chucking them out.

"Ok, let's get on with it then, it's going to take forever to clear this place" The younger girl just knew that they would be exhausted by the end of the day, she didn't know how Shizuru had ended up with so much stuff, it was bordering on the ridiculous. Of course, anything would seem a lot to her since she currently owned very little due to Nao's destruction of her apartment. Still, she actually found that she didn't mind it that much; she had never really been one to see any sentimental value in inanimate objects.

The two of them made their way over to Shizuru's reasonably sized bookshelf, which sat in the corner of the general living area of the apartment. Several shelves made up the piece of furniture and they were all filled with books of various sizes and topics. Some were school text books or work books, but most were either crime or romance novels.

"Well, you're not going to need your school books anymore are you? So they can go" Natsuki said matter of factly as they both knelt before the lower shelves. Shizuru nodded and began to remove the over sized text books from the shelf in front of her, piling them up in the floor next to her legs.

Natsuki copied the motion, but instead went for the work books and note pads,

"Do you want to keep any of these note pads?" She asked while dropping the work books in to one of the boxes she had brought with her,

"No, they are all old ones and are mostly full anyway" Natsuki should have guessed as much really, Shizuru was a meticulous note taker, which was probably why she excelled in her exams. Natsuki didn't think she had even filled one note pad during her entire school career.

"Ok..." She paused her dumping of the books when she came across a work book with doodles on the cover. The doodles were mostly of love hearts and flowers, which made Natsuki snigger; it was rather funny to imagine the ever studious Kaichou getting bored during lesson and doodling on her maths book like the majority of girls did,

"Something funny?" Shizuru questioned with a raised eyebrow, to which Natsuki held up the work book,

"Seriously Shizuru, you doodled love hearts all over you math book, what are you, 10?" The ex-Kaichou chuckled lightly,

"Well, I cannot help it if I found love to be more interesting than maths can I? Natsuki is so very interesting after all" She giggled when a blush spread across her girlfriend's face in response to her words,

"It isn't difficult to be more interesting than maths though is it" The blunette chuckled to cover up her embarrassment slightly; she should have known that Shizuru would say something that really.

"It definitely never had a chance against Natsuki, I don't think there is anything out there that is more inter..."

"Ok I get it" The younger girl cut in, not wanting her blush get any worse. She threw the graffiti covered math book in to the box with the other school books and then moved on to the copious amount of novels. She rolled her eyes at the amount of romance novels the older girl had,

"Do you want to take these with you or are you sending them to Kyoto?" Shizuru looked at the books with a contemplative look, her forefinger came up to her chin and her head tilted to one side slightly. Natsuki smiled, she thought that Shizuru's 'thinking pose' was rather cute.

"I suppose I should send them to Kyoto...I will be able to buy more that way" She grinned as Natsuki just gave her an exasperated sigh. The older girl did like her reading, the biker used to find it weird that whenever she randomly dropped by Shizuru's apartment the older girl would always have a book in her hands. But, as she started to put the books into a box she noted that most of them had bookmarks in them, indicating that the older girl had gotten about half way through before giving up on them.

"Do you ever actually finish a book?" She smirked at her girlfriend, who gave her an amused smile,

"Occasionally yes... Though I'm afraid that I am often too busy to read much, so I forget what has happened and have to either start again or just give up all together and start reading something else" Natsuki feigned a horrified expression,

"The almighty Kaichou-sama giving up? What would your fan girls think!" This earned her a slap on the arm from the older girl, though Shizuru clearly found her comment humorous. The younger girl returned to boxing up the novels, pulling bookmarks from them every now and then and laughing at the various things the Kyoto born used to mark her page. Receipts, absence notes, a paper clip, an old wage slip, a hall pass, a post it note and even a slip of paper with 'important – for the attention of the Student Council' written on it with a bunch of dates and events,

"What's with all the weird bookmarks anyway? And this was so important that you shoved it in a book?" She laughed as Shizuru studied the note. A sudden look of recognition flashed on the chestnut haired girls face,

"Ara, I wondered where I had put that" The older girl was quite well known for her organisation skills so Natsuki couldn't help but laugh a little at her girlfriends apparent forgetfulness, "Suzushiro-san was not impressed when it disappeared" Natsuki sniggered,

"I bet. I'm glad I wasn't in the vicinity when she went ballistic, I honestly don't know how you haven't gone deaf after spending so much time with that fog horn"

"Natsuki!" Shizuru tried to scold but it wasn't very effective. It probably didn't help that the Kyoto born was laughing behind her hand at her girlfriends words. Natsuki chuckled herself for the umpteenth time in last half hour as she continued to place books in to boxes. She couldn't remember a time when she had felt so relaxed and generally happy. Sure she had always enjoyed Shizuru's company (After the first few months of them knowing each other anyway), but being with the older girl now was even better.

Probably because the Kyoto born was happy too, and it showed. She couldn't think of another time when the older girl had laughed so much, whether it be a chuckle, giggle or full on laughter. Plus there was that constant twinkle in her crimson eyes whenever they caught her own gaze, something that had only occasionally shone through before. It was impossible for the biker to be her usual scowling self when her best friend was smiling happily, as she was now.

Natsuki found herself watching the Kyoto born, her progress with the books being slowed down dramatically as a result. Her emerald eyes flitted across the unmarred skin of the older girls face, void of any imperfections and looking as soft as she knew it would feel. Her eyes continued their admiration, from full pink lips to deep crimson eyes, elegant eyebrows and perfectly shaped nose. It was almost ridiculous how perfect Shizuru looked.

And of course that perfection did not end with the older girl's face. Her body was just as pleasing on the eyes; slim and yet definitely very feminine. Natsuki's gaze followed the outline of Shizuru's body, starting with the base of her slender neck, over the generous swell of her breasts, across the flat plain of her tummy, round the curve of her hips and finally down her lightly toned legs before they disappeared, tucked underneath the older girls shapely behind.

"Natsuki?" The younger girl's gaze shot up to Shizuru's face and her cheeks burned fiercely as she realised she'd been caught...again! She _really _needed to be more subtle with her eyeing of the older girl if she didn't want to get caught.

"Y-yeah?" _'Damn it! Smooth Kuga, you idiot!'_

"Does Natsuki like that book? You may borrow it if you like?" The mischievous twinkle in the older girl's eyes, along with the obviously amused tone did not escape the biker, but what was this book she was talking about? It was only then that she realised she'd been holding the same book throughout her previous...appreciation.

"Um...no, I'm good"

"Ara, then why have you been holding it for so long? Unless...perhaps Natsuki was distracted by something hmm?" The blunette resisted the urge to lob the book at her girlfriends head for teasing and instead dumped the book in a box. She then returned her attention to the now almost empty book shelf, intent on ignoring the grinning girl beside her.

Shizuru chuckled at the bikers red face and obvious embarrassment. She certainly hadn't expected Natsuki to be checking her out when she'd turned to look at the girl. She had just noticed in the corner of her eye that the biker wasn't moving and wanted to make sure the girl was alright.

Watching Natsuki's eyes as they roamed across her body had been not only been entirely flattering but...exciting. If Natsuki was looking at her in that way it quite obviously meant that she was interested in what she saw. And hopefully, it would mean that Shizuru wouldn't have to wait as long as she had previously assumed for them to be intimate with each other.

Her mind drifted to earlier on, when she had kissed Natsuki up against her apartment door. If that interaction was anything to go by maybe she wouldn't have to wait long at all. Natsuki hadn't pushed her away when she'd become more aggressive in her kissing, in fact it had seemed like the younger girl had enjoyed it. Of course Shizuru understood that kissing was completely different to _touching_, but Natsuki's response had certainly been positive. She wondered if the younger would have let her go further...

"What next?" The blunette's voice broke through her thoughts and she actually had to suppress a blush of her own. She floundered in her head for a moment as she tried to figure out what Natsuki was asking her... oh right, the books were all boxed up! What to pack next?

She glanced around the room, there was very little in terms of packable items in the room now, just a few bits and bobs that she could easily throw in to a box later on. The kitchen would take a fair bit of time but it was her bedroom that would take the longest... Right now though, with her mind working the way it was, she didn't think it would be productive for them to be in her room...or near her bed...in fact the couch was beginning to look rather interesting..._'I wonder if I could persuade Natsuki to take a little...break with me...?'_

"Shizuru? Are you ok?"

"Hmm?" Crimson eyes dreamily locked on to slightly concerned emeralds...though that concern quickly morphed in to amusement, which pulled Shizuru out of her daze. Feeling mildly embarrassed she stood up quickly and headed to the kitchen, grabbing an un-used box on her way,

"We should pack away some of the pots in here and leave only the things I will need" She heard the blunette's mirthful laugh behind her and glanced over her shoulder to look at the girl,

"Is something funny Natsuki?" Much to her surprise the younger girl was walking towards her with a strange grin on her face. Shizuru didn't think she had ever seen such a look on her friends face, but it certainly wasn't a bad thing.

"You going in to a daze like that is pretty funny when you realise you've done it, it's quite cute really" The blunette reached her and smiled coyly before pulling the shocked Kyoto born in to quick kiss. She then moved past the older girl and started opening cupboards, a smug smile on her face even as her cheeks flushed mildly.

Shizuru didn't move as her mind tried to make sense of what had just happened...that had been...different. The way that Natsuki just walked up to her and gave her a quick kiss...it had been so casual...so laid back...like it was the norm or something. It made Shizuru think of a married couple actually...now there was a thought...

Quickly noticing that she was spacing out again the tawny haired girl turned, box in hand and joined her girlfriend in emptying the cupboards in her kitchen. She would make sure to tease the younger girl as revenge for surprising her like that...even if it had been a pleasant surprise.

* * *

><p>"Ugh, why do you have so much stuff?" Natsuki sighed as she practically fell on to Shizuru's not so comfy couch. It was just after 6 o'clock and the two of them had decided to leave the rest for another day, knowing that Shizuru's bedroom would take <em>hours<em>.

"I do not have _that_ much stuff" The older girl defended, though there was really no denying that she did have a lot of things. There were plenty of filled boxes around the place to prove that fact. Luckily they had managed to throw quite a few things away, thanks to some ruthlessness on Natsuki's part.

"Riiiight, that's why it's just taken us 6 hours to empty your living room and kitchen" Came the mocking response,

"It is not my fault that Natsuki kept getting distracted so easily" Shizuru teased while joining her girlfriend on the couch, albeit in a more graceful manner. She looked at the younger girl, who was pointedly looking away from her, probably to hide a blush, "What kept causing that distraction I wonder?"

"Eh?...um, my...bike?" The blunette tried, knowing full well that the Kyoto born already knew the cause of her distraction...after all Shizuru had made it a point to wink at her when she'd been caught looking _again_ as they packed away some pots in the kitchen.

"Natsuki ikezu, finding her bike more distracting than me" She made her voice sound slightly upset and added a pout for when Natsuki looked at her...which happened only seconds after she finished speaking,

"T-that's not what I meant! I didn't mean to say that! I wasn't distracted by my bike at all! You're far...more...Shizuru!" The older girl had laughed while Natsuki rambled, which clued the younger girl in to the fact that she was being teased. Shizuru couldn't help it, she was in such a good mood and seeing Natsuki flustered over a tease was always thoroughly humorous. The blunette huffed, now bright red, and folder her arm's across her chest.

Usually in this situation, this was the point where Shizuru would say something along the lines of 'kanin na Natsuki, I could not help myself' or "Natsuki is so cute when she is flustered", this time however, she wanted to do something different. So, she moved over to the younger girl and wrapped her arms around her torso, pulling her in to an impromptu hug.

She manoeuvred herself so that her back was against the couch arm and her legs were stretched out along the furniture behind the blunette. This forced Natsuki to rest with her back slightly against the older girls chest while her legs lay beside her girlfriends. Luckily the couch was big enough for them to be in this position without the risk of Natsuki falling off. Once she was happy with their arrangement Shizuru moved her head forward slightly,

"Natsuki is very distracting herself" She whispered in the girl's ear and punctuated her sentence by nibbling said ear lightly,

"Gah! Shi-Shizuru!" The younger girl squirmed in her girlfriends arms, trying to pull out of the hug. Shizuru's arms remained firm though and she chuckled as her girlfriend finally gave up and settled back down, her face beet red of course. She seriously felt like kissing the girls cheek due to her cuteness but held herself back, she didn't think the biker would appreciate another tease...not that she would be doing it as a tease, she just felt like doing it. Maybe she could do that later.

"Is there anything you would like to watch? I don't really watch 'Saturday night TV' so I don't know what is on" She asked while picking up the remote from the couch arm and turning the television on. She flicked through the channels while she waited for Natsuki's answer,

"Well I don't really watch TV at all unless you're making me watch a stupid drama, so I don't know what's on either" The biker shrugged in response, she spent all her 'allotted TV time' playing on her Xbox, since Mai had deemed it necessary to restrict her time using the TV.

Shizuru continued to flick through the channels for a little while and then handed the remote to her girlfriend, who was now quite relaxed in their embrace. The older girl watched the screen as the biker continued flicking, stopping every now and then before moving on. As she waited for Natsuki to find a channel Shizuru decided to enjoy the contact she had with the girl in her arms.

She hadn't actually had the chance to hold Natsuki like this before and she wished that had done so sooner, since it was certainly very nice. Up until now Natsuki had always had an arm or two around her instead of the other way round. She'd been half way there the other day, when Natsuki had fallen asleep on her lap, but this was even better, since she actually had both her arms wrapped around the girl.

She allowed her fingers to play with the material of Natsuki's black T-shirt lightly, drawing patterns over it and rubbing it between her fingers. Of course she applied just enough pressure to feel the toned abdomen beneath the material too. If Natsuki noticed this she didn't say anything, her eyes were currently glued to the TV screen as she watched some form of bike racing.

This was fine with Shizuru since it would probably mean she had more time to enjoy their position. The problem was she was becoming acutely aware that Natsuki's back was pressed against her breasts. She actually felt a little perverted that she could not merely enjoy a simple embrace without her thoughts leading her to other more...pleasurable places.

She flattened her hand against Natsuki's stomach and stroked it over the area a couple of times before stilling it. She was now fighting not to squirm in her seat; she was torn between staying in their embrace and moving so that she could at least kiss the blue haired biker. In the end it was the later than won out.

Natsuki's mind registered the movement from behind her and she figured that the Kyoto born must be uncomfortable, which was a shame really because the biker had been just fine where she was. She allowed Shizuru to re-position them so that they were both lay on their sides, facing the TV, with the older girl behind her and an arm draped over her stomach. She then tried to return her attention back to the bike race but found Shizuru's hand to be rather...distracting.

The appendage was currently stroking her abdomen lightly through her T-shirt, finger tips barely applying any pressure at all, but she could definitely feel them. Her mind honed in on each little movement it made and she felt her heart rate pick up slightly. This changed to dramatically when she felt hot lips against her neck, pushing a slight gasp from her mouth.

Having propped herself up by her elbow Shizuru trailed light kissed along the smooth skin beneath her lips. She noted that Natsuki tensed up slightly at the action but she continued since the girl didn't pull away. Once she had kissed her way down the girl's neck to the hem of her T-shirt she trailed her lips back up, barely brushing the skin beneath. She solidified a kiss slightly as she reached the spot between ear and neck before using her hand on Natsuki's stomach to urge the girl on to her back.

Much to her relief the blunette did just that, her face flushed and her emerald eyes staring up at her with slight apprehension. She smiled softly and waited for the younger girl to relax a bit before claiming the biker's lips in a slow kiss. The Kyoto born then repositioned herself so that she was lay less on her side, her body covering the younger girls slightly.

Natsuki returned the kiss while her heart beat continued to rage in her ears. There was something very different about the way Shizuru was kissing her. It was a fairly slow kiss but it was pretty clear that the older girl was in charge of it, her tongue sweeping out every so often, pushing in to her mouth and swirling around before pulling out again.

Soon she felt the hand that had previously been on her stomach stroke gently up her side and back down again just as slowly. She shivered at the sensation and felt her body temperature rise. As their kiss continued Shizuru moaned softly in to her mouth, the noise making her dizzy and causing the muscles in her stomach to twitch.

She decided to copy her girlfriend's earlier motion and brought her left hand up to stroke the girl's side. Shizuru shuddered almost violently against her and deepened the kiss, the pace changing to a more lively one as their lips were pressed closer together.

Natsuki found that her mind was becoming increasingly hazy; she couldn't concentrate on anything other than the various sensations being caused by the girl above her. Shizuru's hand stroked up her side again though this time it didn't move back down, instead at rested between her upper arm and her left breast, cupping her rib cage lightly and causing Natsuki's heart beat to officially go through the roof.

Shizuru was feeling the haze of desire beginning to fog over her own thought processes, but she was trying her best to keep her wits about her. She needed to make sure that what she was doing was ok with Natsuki and as such, she needed to concentrate so she would be able to pick up any signs that the girl was uncomfortable. At that moment, Natsuki seemed ok though, so she debated her next move. She knew what she wanted to do but she wasn't sure if she should or not. She was nervous about how Natsuki might react.

The younger girl could feel the heat from Shizuru's palm seeping through her T-shirt, warming the skin beneath and making her even more aware of how close the girl's hand was to her breast. She wrapped her left arm around Shizuru's waist, while her right hand moved to thread its fingers through chestnut hair, something it seemed to be doing a lot just lately.

The action seemed to spur the older girl on as her left hand started to move again. Slender fingers stroked across her ribs before they moved inwards, tracing a line across the younger girl's torso, just under her breasts. Natsuki released a sudden puff of air against Shizuru's face as she shivered once more. Her body felt incredibly warm and she tightened her hold on the Kyoto born.

Shizuru, realising that they both needed to breathe pulled out of the kiss and instead imitated her earlier actions by kissing along the sensitive skin of Natsuki's neck. She heard a small gasp as her mouth hit a particularly sensitive spot and she allowed her lips to hover just above the skin there for a moment before pressing them against the smooth flesh. She pushed her tongue out to flick against the tender patch of skin, pulling another light gasp from Natsuki's throat.

The older girl could hear the bikers accelerated breathing and found that her own was very similar. Before her hand managed to find the courage to do anything more daring she placed it back on the younger girl's hip gently. She then moved her lips back to Natsuki's, giving her soft kiss before pulling away and looking at the flushed face of her girlfriend.

Natsuki's cheeks were a deep red, her eyes closed, eye brows lightly furrowed and mouth open slightly to facilitate her heavier breathing. The Kyoto born released a shaky breath at the sight and then swallowed hard, trying to regain control over her desire. She very much wanted to continue where she had left off but her anxiousness held her back. She didn't want to seem too forward and scare the poor blunette. Plus...she was a little worried that Natsuki would suddenly realise what was going on and freak out. She didn't think that she would be able to handle that sort of situation and so, she decided to play it safe.

She brought her right hand up to the younger girl's face and the pad of her thumb brushed affectionately over one of the girl's eyebrows. This action finally pulled Natsuki out of her haze a little and she opened her eyes to see Shizuru looking back at her with such intensity that she struggled to hold her gaze.

As if sensing this, the crimson eyes softened, and a small tender smile graced Shizuru's lips. She surprise the younger girl by lowering her lips to press against her forehead in a sweet gesture,

"I love you" The tawny haired girl felt the need to say it, even if she knew she wasn't going to hear it back it still felt nice to be able to utter those three words without feeling guilty about it. Natsuki felt her heart flutter in her chest, not just at the words themselves, but at the emotion behind them. She felt like she should say it back, but she couldn't seem to get the words out. She wanted to say it, she wanted Shizuru to know that she _did_ love her but...something was holding her back. In the end all she could manage was the older girl's name,

"Shizuru" Her voice was quiet, barely above a whisper, and it sounded slightly odd to her own ears but she paid it no heed. The Kyoto born, having heard the hint of guilt in the younger girl's voice, moved away from Natsuki's forehead, bringing her gorgeous eyes back in to view, along with her fond smile,

"It's okay" Shizuru's voice was also quiet, but the blunette didn't detect any uneasiness or upset in it, so she relaxed...only then did she realise what they had just been doing and her face was instantly flooded with a magnificent blush. She'd been expecting a tease from the older girl but it never came, instead the Kyoto born climbed of the couch and stood up, managing to somehow do so without losing a shred of grace.

"I was thinking about ordering us some food, is there anything in particular you fancy?" The way Shizuru had just switched back to her normal self made Natsuki feel a whole lot more comfortable and she had to wonder if the older girl had done so just for her benefit. She certainly wouldn't put it past the girl to do something like that,

"Um..." It was still a little difficult to think straight though "I guess..." Usually she would say pizza but..."Whatever you want is fine" She smiled while pulling herself in to a sitting position, her blush beginning to fade as the air around them returned to normal.

Shizuru regarded the younger girl carefully and saw that Natsuki would truly be ok with whatever choice she made, which was rare really since their tastes could be vastly different at times and Natsuki usually complained bitterly about having to eat traditional Japanese food when she wanted pizza.

"Ookini Natsuki" Of course, for being so considerate, Shizuru decided to reward her girlfriend by ordering the pizza she knew the girl craved.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>Wow, there was a lot of dialogue at the start of this chapter huh? I hope I didn't bore you guys too much D: Ack! That last part was so not planned! They were just meant to cuddle on the couch! Nothing more! XD I blame Shizuru! aha

About the way I have Reito and Shizuru's friendship... I just find it funny to imagine them sitting in the council room talking about girls and sex and whatnot lol

Not sure when the next update will be (not that I ever do aha) because I'm about to start a new job and its more hours than I'm used to, so I will most likely be a complete zombie for a week or so :P BUT when I get paid I'm going to buy a laptop, which means I won't have to fight to get on the computer anymore, thus giving me more time to write; WIN!

...I've noticed that I tend to ramble on a lot in my author notes lol So, I'm sorry about that :P As always reviews are nice and don't forget to tell me if you spot any mistakes/inconsistencies, concrit is always welcome :) Till next time;

~IlliterateKoi~


	9. Threat

**Disclaimer; **I don't own these characters or Mai HiME/Otome, they belong to Sunrise.

**AN:** Thanks for all the encouraging reviews for the last chapter guys! I really appreciate it and I'm glad you're all enjoying this so far :) Again I managed to get this out sooner than I thought I would... though I think you might find this chapter a bit boring compared to the last one lol

It is another longish chapter though! :) Enjoy;

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><p>Barricade<p>

Chapter 9: Threat

_"If you cannot love yourself, you will not believe that you are loved" _

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><p>Natsuki furrowed her brow as a rather annoying noise filtered through her sleep induced haze. Why was it that she could never wake up without having some infernal noise pierce her eardrums? She quickly recognised the sound as her mobile phone and started fishing around for the device. She found something, but it definitely wasn't her phone. It was too soft, too smooth and too warm to be the hard plastic of her mobile.<p>

She popped an eye open and immediately retracted her hand from its position. No, definitely not her phone. Her hand had found the smooth skin of Shizuru's hip, where the older girls white top had ridden up during her sleep. She felt heat rush to her cheeks, a sure sign that she was blushing, and promptly turned away from the still sleeping Kyoto born. Apparently the older girl was having no trouble sleeping through the annoying noise.

Her phone, which was _still_ ringing, was eventually found on the floor next to the double bed. Natsuki scooped it up while rolling out from under the covers before making her way quietly out of the room, not wanting to wake Shizuru. She glanced at the caller ID and scowled,

"Why are you phoning me at half nine on Sunday morning?" She didn't bother to keep the irritation out of her voice,

"_You're so dead when I next see you Kuga!" _Natsuki winced as her ears complained at the volume,

"Yuuki, I swear to god I'm gunna kick your ass if you shout like that again" She kept her voice calm and quiet, though still obviously irritated,

"_Like I care! You told that fuck wit that I liked him!" _The blunette's eyebrows drew inwards in confusion,

"Who?" Nao growled down the phone and the older girl was actually rather glad that she wasn't in the red head's presence. Nao may not be the toughest person ever, but her punches still hurt like a bitch.

"_Kenta!" _The biker raked her brain, who the hell was Kenta? Then she remembered having a similar conversation with Nao at the graduation party and laughed. She couldn't remember his full name but she was pretty sure that 'Kenta' was his given name, not his family name,

"Calling him 'Kenta' huh? And in yobisute too" She chuckled lightly while moving to the couch and sitting in it,

"_Shut the hell up! He spent the entire night giving me weird looks and trying to make small talk!" _

"Well, what makes you think I had anything to do with that?" Natsuki smirked while rubbing some sleep from her eyes,

"_I know it was you!"_ Nao practically bellowed down the phone and the older girl had to pull the device away to prevent bursting an ear drum, she then growled,

"What did I tell you about yelling like that? Jesus you could give Suzushiro a run for her money!"

"_What? Hell no! Don't compare me to that fog horn!" _

"Then stop screeching down the phone you idiot!" Natsuki had failed to notice that her own voice was slowly creeping louder,

"_Well I'm pissed off! I know you're socially inept and all but I'm sure you know that people shout when they're pissed off!" _Apparently Nao was getting more irate by the second,

"Not at this time on a Sunday morning they don't!"

"_You completely ruined my Saturday night! I'm up this early because I __**didn't **__get drunk!" _

"Well I apologise for getting in the way of your alcoholism"

"_You're so dead when I see you! I swear to...arg! You know what? I'm gunna kick your ass right now!"_ Natsuki, who was now scowling, wondered what Nao was planning. Then she heard a door open and close on the other end of the line and cringed,

"I'm not there you moron! You're just going to piss Mai off!"

"_Bullshit, I know you're in there! Stop being chicken shit and open the door!" _Some rather violent banging could be heard and Natsuki closed her eyes in annoyance,

"Nao, I'm not ther..."

"_**-Nao-chan? What are you doing?-**__" _Ohhh, Mai did _not _sound impressed _"Where's Kuga? __**-She's with Kaichou-san, do you have to be so aggressive all the time? It's Sunday morning! I was trying to sleep!**__-" _

"I told you I wasn't there" Natsuki sighed down the phone, Mai would probably yell at her for quite some time later "Why are you so bothered about me telling that guy you liked him anyway? You've never cared before" She was genuinely curious about this, Nao was not really the type to get in such a mess about what someone else thought. Especially if that person happened to be a guy.

"_Because! He's the person I always get my booze and cigs off and now he's acting all weird!"_ The older girl snickered,

"Yeah, that sounds like a really good reason"

"_What's that supposed to mean!" _

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><p>Meanwhile, in Shizuru's bedroom, the chestnut haired girl was waking up to a very empty bed. Her heart dropped instantly and her mind raced to find a plausible explanation for why Natsuki was not there. She ran her hand over the sheets where the blunette had slept and found the area to be cold, ruling out the possibility that the younger girl had just nipped to the bathroom.<p>

She sat up quickly, her mind drawing all sorts of unpleasant conclusions. Luckily, before she could really start to panic, a voice filtered through the apartment and in to her room,

"What? No! How does that even work!"

The Kyoto born felt her heart settle slightly but her eyebrows furrowed in confusion; who was Natsuki talking to in such an irritated tone of voice? She climbed out of her lovely, comfortable and warm bed and padded slowly towards her bedroom door.

"Riiiight, so because I told him that _you_ liked him, that somehow means that _I _like him? Are you seriously insane?"

Now more than confused, Shizuru opened her door silently and edged her way slowly towards her girlfriend's voice. She found the girl on the couch, her head bent across the back of it, her eyes glaring up at the ceiling. She was sure that the younger girl would see her in her peripheral vision but apparently she was too involved in her conversation to do so.

"Yuuki I swear to god, STOP FUCKING SHOUTING!" Shizuru was stunned for a second, Natsuki sounded rather annoyed, if the yelling and swearing meant anything anyway. And she was talking to Nao, _again. _Natsuki had moved her head as she yelled down the phone and her glare was now being aimed at the blank TV screen.

The Kyoto born didn't want her girlfriend to be talking to Nao, at least not when she was meant to be cuddling up to her in the warm confines of her rather comfortable bed. The red head was cutting in to her 'Natsuki time' and she was not happy about that in the least. She needed to find a way to end the phone conversation without making it blatantly obvious that she was only doing so because it was Nao on the other end.

Seeing an opportunity, Shizuru moved forward and lent over the back of the couch. From her current position she could hear Nao's voice as the girl yelled again, though she couldn't hear what was actually being said. Before Natsuki could respond the older girl lifted her hands and moved them in front of the biker, covering her eyes.

Much to her amusement, Natsuki practically jumped out of her skin and yelped in surprise. Shizuru chuckled and moved her head forward so that she could whisper in the girls ear,

"Guess who?" Natsuki squeaked as Shizuru's hot breath met her skin, which of course, Nao heard,

"_What the hell are you doing Kuga?" _

"W-what? Nothing!" Her embarrassment was evident in her voice and it didn't take Nao long to draw conclusions,

"_Oh my god, I don't want to know! I'll kick your ass later, there's no way I'm listening to you and the snake get it on!" _The red head didn't even wait for Natsuki to say anything in response before ending the call. The blunette pulled her phone away from her ear and tried to turn around to glare at her girlfriend. The problem with this plan was that Shizuru wasn't willing to remove her hands, which made the whole glaring thing rather difficult.

"Natsuki hasn't guessed yet" The playful tone in the older girl's voice made Natsuki scowl against the offending appendages,

"Shizuru! Cut it out!" She was about to try her luck at prying those hands off her face when they moved of their own accord, revealing a smiling Shizuru, who's hair was slightly mussed from sleeping,

"Natsuki guessed correctly" The biker couldn't keep the scowl on her face, much as she tried. Shizuru's smile was just as contagious as her laughter it would seem, as a grin soon spread across Natsuki's face too, her annoyance at Nao fading quickly.

"Well it wasn't very difficult really, last time I checked we were the only two people here, and besides, who else do I know from Kyoto?" Shizuru chuckled lightly at this and walked around the couch to sit next to Natsuki, who moved over to make room.

This was completely unnecessary though since Shizuru did not want room between them. The Kyoto born rectified this almost immediately by tackling the blunette, wrapping her arms around the girl's waist, pushing her backwards against the couch arm and snuggling in to her.

"Shi-Shizuru!" Despite the shock in the younger girls voice Shizuru could tell that Natsuki was actually more amused than anything,

"Natsuki left me in bed on my own, I thought she might have run off" She was pouting, not that the other girl could see it since her head was currently resting rather comfortably on the blunette's shoulder, her breath brushing against the smooth skin of Natsuki's neck. The biker chuckled and brought her own arms up to wrap around Shizuru's slender frame, returning the impromptu hug,

"You can be so silly sometimes, you know that?" She was currently craning her neck to try and see the older girl's face, but soon gave up when she realised it was an impossible feat. Shizuru merely giggled, usually she would have tried to tease the younger girl but she decided against it. She wasn't quite awake yet and as such her teases would probably be sub-par. Instead she snuggled a little closer and then spoke,

"Who did Natsuki leave me in bed alone for?" Of course, she knew who had been on the other end of the phone, but she wanted to know if Natsuki would tell her. She wasn't sure why she felt that way...she just knew that it would make her feel better to hear Natsuki be honest with her. She felt better the second Natsuki groaned in obvious annoyance,

"Nao. She seriously needs to get a life, preferably one that doesn't involve her screaming down the phone at me" The blunette sighed heavily "Did I wake you up with my yelling?" She sounded slightly amused but still guilty; she really hadn't wanted to wake Shizuru up since she knew that the girl liked her sleep.

"I'm not sure to be honest, I just woke up, noticed that you were not there and then heard you shouting, so I came to investigate" Shizuru had her eyes closed now, her head still resting on Natsuki shoulder, "What did Yuuki-san want so early in the morning?" She knew that she was being a little nosey, but she couldn't help it. Something about Natsuki and Nao's friendship made her feel uncomfortable and she knew that she would feel better if she knew what was going on between them. She was sure that most friends didn't call each other so early on a Sunday morning so the call must have been about something important. Natsuki chuckled,

"She found out what I said to some guy last week" The answer was far too vague for Shizuru so she pressed the biker on it,

"And what _did _Natsuki say?"

"I told him that Nao liked him" She chuckled dryly "It was just to get him to leave me alone really, but annoying Nao in the process was a good bonus...until she phoned to scream at me anyway" The Kyoto born laughed lightly, feeling a bit better knowing that the call had just been the result of Natsuki annoying the red head. She decided not to dwell on the fact that this guy, whoever he was 'would not leave Natsuki alone'.

"Ara, for Yuuki-san to be so annoyed about it..." The blunette laughed,

"You think the same thing as me right?"

"Perhaps what you told that boy may hold some truth, maybe Yuuki-san does like him" They both laughed at Nao's expense for a moment before settling down again, each enjoying the others company without the need for conversation.

Shizuru could feel herself relaxing more and more as the seconds ticked by. She wasn't used to being awake at this time, since she'd spent the majority of the week in bed, happily sleeping her day away. That, along with the sound of Natsuki's steady breathing and the comfortable position she was lay in began to lure her back to her dreams. She'd been having some rather nice dreams as of late, most of them involving a less than fully clothed Natsuki...

"You want to go back to bed?" Natsuki's voice cut through her sleepy haze and she tightened her arms around the girl's torso,

"No, I want to stay here" This pulled another chuckle from her girlfriend, who no doubt thought that she was acting silly again, not that Shizuru cared. If being silly meant that she got to stay right where she was, she really couldn't care less.

"Fiiiine" Although this was accompanied by a sigh Shizuru could tell the younger girl was not bothered in any way, "But can you pass me the TV remote before you get too comfy?" Shizuru was already very comfortable, but decided to grab the remote anyway; she knew that while she could quite easily fall asleep right now, Natsuki would not. The biker would probably just get incredibly bored and start to fidget, which would make her much less comfortable as a pillow.

She sat up on her knees and turned slightly to grab the remote off the couch arm. Once she had it she returned to her previous position, with a couple of small changes. Instead of wrapping both of her arms around Natsuki as she had before, she only did so with her right and instead let her left rest on the girl's stomach. She then passed the remote to Natsuki and rested her head on the girl's chest, where she could hear the biker's heartbeat.

Natsuki chuckled once more as her girlfriend let a content sigh before turning her attention to the TV screen. She flicked through the channels aimlessly. Why was there never anything decent on TV anymore? She stopped flicking momentarily to watch a programme about car restoration but quickly moved on when she found that the presenter's voice annoyed her.

She continued to channel surf for a while before she decided to watch a documentary on sharks. Her left hand had started to play with the ends of Shizuru's hair without her noticing but she didn't stop her motions when she realised. She wondered how the Kyoto born kept her hair so soft. Sure, she managed to keep her own hair in great condition, but she didn't think hers was anywhere near as nice as Shizuru's.

She let her fingers run through the silky strands lightly and noted that there were no knots what so ever, even though the older girl had just gotten up and her hair was less than neat. Not that Natsuki minded this of course, in fact she thought it made the girl look quite sexy...her face went beet red at the thought of the word she'd used to describe her girlfriend and she promptly decided to return her attention to the TV screen, where a great white shark was swimming menacingly around a scuba diver in what looked like a half finished cage. It didn't look like a decent way to protect one's self from a shark to say the least.

A few minutes she deemed it safe to focus on her girlfriend again, the heat having disappeared from her cheeks. Judging by the older girl's steady breathing and the way her left hand twitched every so often, she was asleep. A soft smile pulled at Natsuki's lips as she looked down at the mess of chestnut hair splayed out over her chest.

Of course, this also drew attention to the fact that Shizuru was using her breast as a pillow. Needless to say her blush returned. She really wished that she didn't blush so much; it made things so much more frustrating and difficult. And why when she was embarrassed did her face literally light up in a furious red colour? When Shizuru was embarrassed her cheeks just turned a bit pink.

Ok, so maybe Shizuru wasn't the best example since it was actually pretty difficult to embarrass the Kyoto born. Mai however, was much easier to embarrass, but still didn't go tomato red. It was all a bit cruel really. And apart from the fact that she did flush bright red, why did the most horrifically embarrassing things always happen to her? Like when her underwear had been stolen and Takeda had seen her... _'Damn it! I can't even think about it without blushing!'_

She soon decided that thinking about embarrassment was a sure way to embarrass herself, and she certainly didn't need to help people in that department. As such, she turned her attention back to the TV, intent on watching the documentary and not thinking about anything else. Her body slowly began to relax and she closed her eyes for a moment to enjoy the embrace she was currently sharing with Shizuru.

* * *

><p>Shizuru scrunched her eyes together as conscious thought returned to her. She'd been having such a wonderful dream, it was a shame she had been woken from it. Her ears suddenly became aware of a beating noise which freaked her out and caused her body to stiffen slightly... until she remembered where she had fallen asleep. The noise she could hear was Natsuki's heart beating rhythmically in her chest, on top of which Shizuru was resting her head.<p>

The second she realised that her head was being pillowed by Natsuki's left breast Shizuru's entire body seemed to wake up. She became acutely aware of just how close their bodies were and more to the point, where their legs were in relation to each other.

When she'd fallen asleep her legs had been on the couch next to Natsuki's. Somehow their legs had managed to tangle together while she slept, which now meant that Shizuru had one of Natsuki's legs between her own, her hips pressing in to a toned thigh under her body weight. Owing to the fact that she was only wearing some rather thin cotton shorts and her underwear she could certainly feel every tiny movement that thigh made. Her breathing accelerated slightly and she felt her body heat up.

She wondered if Natsuki knew what position they were in. To find out she lifted her head slowly and came face to face with her dozing girlfriend. Apparently Natsuki had been able to fall back to sleep after all. The younger girl still had her arms wrapped around Shizuru's torso, which meant that the older girl wouldn't be able to remove herself from atop the girl without waking her.

While she was busy debating what to do Natsuki's leg twitched against her and caused a quick flash of pleasure to shoot through her body. Shizuru gasped lightly at the sensation and chewed her lip absently. She should wake Natsuki up right? Not that it didn't feel good but... it just felt a bit wrong when the other participant was asleep.

As if to torture the poor Kyoto born Natsuki squirmed a little in her sleep, which of course caused some rather intimate contact to take place. Shizuru was now struggling to keep her breathing under control, she could feel the heat radiating from her cheeks as a blush lit up her face, but her attention was much lower. She blamed the dream she'd just woken from for her body's sensitivity and cursed her hormones for making her have such dreams in the first place. As Natsuki's leg twitched again she realised that she really needed to get up, or at the very least wake Natsuki so that she would stop squirming.

Focusing herself, she brought her left hand up and placed it on Natsuki's shoulder, intending to use it as leverage to lift herself up and off the girl. When she propped herself up though, her weight was shifted to her lower half, which of course meant that her hips were pressed further against Natsuki's thigh. Her breath hitched but she maintained her determination and quickly rolled off the couch in the most ungraceful manner. It would have been rather humorous to a bystander to say the least. As would the way the Kyoto born practically ran towards the bathroom to have a nice cold shower.

The sudden movements of the older girl had woken Natsuki, who had quickly opened her eyes to see her girlfriend heading for the bathroom, rather briskly she noted. _'That was weird...maybe she just really needed the toilet or something' _Happy with her conclusion the blunette stretched, smiling in satisfaction when her arms and back cracked loudly.

She wiped her eyes to clear away any remnants of her unintentional nap and turned her attention to the TV screen, upon which were some buffalo grazing happily, completely unaware that there was a lion only meters away. Her gaze soon drifted to the numerous boxes littering the room though and she frowned. This time next week Shizuru would be living in her new apartment, with 2 other girls.

Her talk with Mai had helped and when she was with Shizuru she hardly thought of it at all...but it was still bothering her somewhat. She knew that Shizuru loved her and that the chances of her straying were small. It just didn't seem like a very Shizuru thing to do in all honesty, she was incredibly loyal, especially when it came to her favourite biker.

On top of that Natsuki understood that even if the Kyoto born was going to be living with 2 other girls, the chances of one of those flat mates being less than straight was slim. Out of all the people who would be living in that particular apartment complex she knew that the majority would be straight. But, knowing her luck, even if there was only one other lesbian living there, they would end up being Shizuru's flat mate.

The sound of running water made its way down the hallway to the living room and Natsuki realised that Shizuru was having a shower. She sat up and bent her neck from side to side, trying to ease the stiffness in it from how she'd been lay on the couch. Once it was as good as it was going to get she glanced around for her mobile.

She quickly located it on the floor beside the couch and picked it up to check the time. It was just after 1 in the afternoon and she sighed when she realised that she started her extra classes tomorrow. She also noticed that she had two text messages and promptly read them. The first was predictably from Nao and read;

'_I mean it abwt kickin ur ass kuga. The second u get bak ure gettin a serious beat down'_

Natsuki chuckled; trying to intimidate people over text, especially when using text speak, was just ridiculous. She replied with a simple '_I'm sure' _and then read the second message, which was from Mai;

'_Natsuki can you please tell me why Nao-chan nearly knocked our door off its hinges at quarter to 10 this morning? Whatever you did just apologise! X' _

Only Mai would finish a blatantly angry text with a 'X', something that also amused Natsuki. She didn't bother replying, since she knew her roommate would just ask her again when she got back anyway. With that done she stood up, stretched again and then made her way back to Shizuru's bedroom to get dressed.

Aware that Shizuru could leave the bathroom at any moment she quickly stripped out of her sleep attire, changed her underwear and pulled on her jeans and black T-shirt from the day before. She then dumped her dirty clothes in the wash basket. She used to think it was weird that Shizuru would clean her clothes, and as such see her underwear, but she'd been doing it for so long now that she'd gotten over it.

Her next task consisted of locating the hair brush and dragging it through her hair to rid it of the numerous tangles and knots that had formed while she slept. Unlike Shizuru's, her hair _did _get rather knotted while she was asleep. She suspected that she moved around a lot and since she was prone to having nightmares she could understand why.

Just as she was about to finish de-tangling her hair she heard the shower cut out and suddenly became aware of the fact that Shizuru was very naked just next door... she should leave the room right? So that Shizuru could get dressed...but then again...Shizuru had teased her the other day while she'd been in the bathroom, just after she'd finished showering. Maybe she could somehow get the girl back for that?

Of course the second that thought crossed her mind she realised that it would never work. She wasn't as laid back about nudity as Shizuru was and as such the older girl would probably somehow use her own nakedness to tease the biker.

The idea of teasing aside though, Natsuki found that she wasn't particularly averse to seeing the Kyoto born in just a towel. Sure, she'd seen Shizuru like that before but she'd found herself looking at Shizuru, in particular her body, rather differently as of late.

In the end she didn't get a say in the matter because Shizuru had somehow left the bathroom and entered her bedroom without Natsuki hearing anything. So now, the Kyoto born was stood in the doorway, clad only in a towel, staring with mild surprise in the blunette's direction.

Natsuki's breath caught in her throat as her eyes took in the sight of the older girl. Shizuru's hair was several shades darker than its usual colour and small droplets of water were dripping from odd strands, some falling to the floor while others landed on creamy skin and slid slowly across it, leaving a trail of water behind. The biker's heart hammered in her chest as she watched a particular droplet meander its way down the smooth skin of Shizuru's neck, across her collar bone and disappear between her breasts.

Shizuru herself was frozen in place. She hadn't been expecting to find Natsuki in her room, let alone witness the younger girl so clearly appreciating her bared skin. It had only been a few days since Natsuki had all but freaked out at the sight of her bare leg so it was certainly surprising that the girl was acting this way. When she noticed exactly where Natsuki's eyes were looking a light blush rose to her cheeks.

It still felt strange really, for Natsuki to be looking at her like she was. She had never expected the blunette to enjoy looking at her body, at least not so soon anyway. Natsuki had always been so shy about that type of thing that Shizuru had thought it would take quite some time for the girl to get to that point. Apparently she was wrong. It was flattering really to know that she was probably the first person that Natsuki had ever looked at in such a way... and enjoying it too by the looks of things.

Natsuki was indeed enjoying the view, though her eyes had moved on from the older girl's breasts and were now trekking their way down long, lightly toned legs. She swallowed hard as her mind provided her with a word to describe what she saw for the second time that day. _Sexy_. Shizuru, wearing nothing but a towel, her hair wet and her body damp was definitely sexy.

Shizuru watched as a blush spread across Natsuki's face and the second intense emeralds met her gaze she thought her heart would stop. Although it didn't quite stop, it did stutter dangerously in her chest and she took a shaky breath to steady herself. She had a funny feeling that she was going to need another cold shower if she didn't do something about the situation soon.

With that in mind she cleared her throat inaudibly and moved further in to the room. When she was sure that her voice wouldn't betray her she spoke with a slight smirk,

"Does Natsuki see something she likes?" The blush on Natsuki's face deepened immediately and Shizuru almost felt bad for the tease. Almost being the key word there; she knew that teasing was probably the only way to defuse the air surrounding them. It worked instantly and she found that her breathes weren't as shaky once Natsuki's intense gaze shifted away from her.

Natsuki didn't say anything in response to her tease, not that she'd expected her to. The Kyoto born made her way over to her draws, hoping that it would spur the blunette in to leaving the room so that she could get dressed. When the girl didn't move Shizuru decided to use a tease again,

"Ara, is Natsuki just going to sit there while I change? She can help me pick my underwear if she wants?" _That_ brought the biker back to her senses and she shot up and off the bed,

"NO! I-I'll wait for you in the front room!" And with that, the tomato faced girl left the bedroom, leaving an amused Shizuru behind.

Her amusement quickly wore of though as she pulled her clothes on. She wasn't sure how long she could stand this. She wanted to touch the biker so badly, to feel her smooth skin beneath her fingertips, to taste her body and make the girl writhe beneath her in pleasure. Her desire for the biker to touch her was quickly escalating too and she knew that she would snap if she had to wait much longer.

She hadn't expected things to move so quickly. She'd thought that her will power and patience would hold better and she was a little worried that this didn't seem to be the case. Natsuki had always had this effect on her but it had never been this intense before. Having Natsuki return her feelings seemed to have doubled everything she felt for the blunette and it was difficult to keep herself in check all the time when around the younger girl.

Of course Natsuki certainly wasn't helping matters by looking at her like she had been minutes ago... or by falling asleep in awkward positions. It was as if the girl was inadvertently teasing her! If any other incidents like that happened in the near future she was sure that she'd go insane.

With a sigh she sat on the edge of her bed and dried her hair, pulling a brush through it with ease as she did so. She hated feeling like a hormone driven teenage boy...not that she knew what that felt like of course.

* * *

><p>Natsuki had quickly found something to watch on the TV, hoping that it would keep her mind occupied. It didn't work though and she was currently trying to reassure herself that there was nothing wrong with looking at Shizuru the way she had. Shizuru hadn't been bothered by it, in fact, Natsuki was pretty sure that the older girl had been pleasantly surprised by it. So it couldn't be a bad thing right? Right. So there was nothing wrong with appreciating Shizuru's body.<p>

The minute she settled the issue of looking with herself though another thought made itself known to her. If it was ok for her to look was it also ok for her touch? She didn't know where the sudden urge to touch the Kyoto born came from but she didn't really care about that. All she cared about was the fact that she wanted to touch Shizuru, and she wanted to know if it would be ok for her to do so.

She assumed that it would be...but there would be a line right? As in, there would be limitations on what or where she could touch...not that she was completely sure what she wanted to touch herself, but that was beside the point. The point was how was she meant to know where that line was? She certainly wasn't going to ask Shizuru, she was not a masochist and had no wish to give the older girl an opening for a tease.

Perhaps Shizuru would just stop her if she went too far...but that would likely lead to a rather awkward, not to mention embarrassing, situation. These thoughts were a little pointless really, since she was fairly certain that when she actually got the opportunity to touch the older girl her nerves would prevent her from doing so. She was also a bit worried about her lack of experience. She had a basic idea of what she might do but she wasn't entirely sure.

Maybe the best thing to do would be to let Shizuru set the pace then? Natsuki figured that if Shizuru touched her, then the older girl should be ok with being touched back right? So the blunette could basically just follow Shizuru's lead and therefore not make an ass out of herself. The only problem with this was that she wasn't particularly fond of just copying what someone else was doing; it seemed somewhat boring and lacking in any real effort.

She didn't want Shizuru to think that she was just going along with things and that she was only willing to give what she got. The last thing she needed was for Shizuru to wonder about her sincerity in regards to their relationship. But still...her lack of experience meant that she didn't have much of a choice...unless of course she did some research...that could work...

Shizuru padded her way towards the living room, her eyes falling on her girlfriend instantly as the younger girl stared at the TV. She could tell that Natsuki wasn't paying much attention to what was on the screen though, mostly because the biker never watched adverts, she would usually flip through the channels while waiting for the programme to resume.

"Ara, Natsuki seems to be thinking very hard about something, is everything alright?" The Kyoto born chuckled when her comment caused a blush to light up the girls face. Natsuki smiled sheepishly and tried to think up a reasonable excuse she could blame her distraction on,

"Y-yeah, I was just thinking that I start my extra classes tomorrow" She genuinely groaned, having reminded herself that this was indeed the case. She really didn't want to be stuck in a stuffy class room studying for the remainder of the holidays. At least she only had to re-take a few classes and not all of them...that would have been horrific. The classes she did have to re-take though were unfortunately her least favourite subjects; Japanese History, English and Physics. Boring, boring and boring.

"Well, if Natsuki needs any help with her studies I would be more than willing to help" Shizuru smiled as she sat next the younger girl. She could tell that Natsuki had just made up the excuse of school to hide her real thoughts, but she let it pass. She assumed that the biker had probably been thinking about their earlier interaction and she didn't feel like embarrassing the poor girl about it again. Natsuki looked at her with a slight smirk,

"You'll regret saying that when you see how utterly hopeless my English is" The older girl laughed lightly,

"Well, I don't claim to be the best at it myself" Natsuki scoffed

"Riiiight, that's why you passed with flying colours" The Kyoto born chuckled and waved off the comment with her right hand,

"That doesn't mean anything, anyone can memorise certain words and sentences" In truth, her English was pretty good but she had never been one to boast about such things. Besides, she had a horrible feeling that if she told Natsuki just how good her English was the younger girl would make her speak it...which she actually found to be moderately embarrassing. That aside though, she figured that it might actually be quite amusing to help Natsuki study.

"Oh come on, we both know that you're just naturally good at that stuff. I bet you hardly even studied for it" Natsuki chuckled as Shizuru just smiled at her, a hint of mischief in her eyes for some reason.

"I did study. Anyway, if Natsuki would like my help she only needs to ask okay?" The biker nodded, she may be hard headed and stubborn at times but she was not stupid enough to turn down help from the older girl. Shizuru had gotten the best grades in her year; anyone would be an idiot to refuse help from such a person.

The two of them spent the next couple of hours watching TV, cuddling and having idle chats. Natsuki wished she didn't have to leave but she knew that she had to. She needed to sort out her school stuff and she knew that it would take her a while...she wasn't even sure where her school jacket was.

"I'll speak to you tomorrow?" Natsuki asked while pulling her boots on by the front door, having changed in to her biking leathers for the ride back to the dorms.

"Of course, what time do your lessons finish?" Shizuru was stood just in front of the younger girl, arms folded in front of her and a pleasant smile gracing her features,

"I'm not sure, I'll let you know when I do" The blunette straightened and smiled at the chestnut haired girl. Shizuru's own smile widened slightly and she stepped forward, her hands immediately finding Natsuki's neck and cheek as she pulled her in to a kiss. It was the first kiss they'd shared all day and Shizuru had to force herself to keep it calm and soft instead of giving in to the need gnawing away at the pit of her stomach. After a couple of seconds they pulled apart.

Natsuki smiled and then surprised the older girl with a quick peck on her cheek before turning and exiting the apartment, leaving a lightly blushing, but happily smiling Shizuru behind.

* * *

><p>Natsuki yawned as she dragged her feet towards the school building. Her bag was digging in to her shoulder uncomfortably due to the rather heavy text books it was holding. She very rarely bothered even bringing a bag to school and she wondered how the other students put up with carrying around what felt like a dead body all day every day.<p>

As she neared the entrance to the building she spotted a familiar figure and her jaw dropped. It didn't even register in her mind that the person wanted to punch her in the face when she took in what they were wearing. She stood, staring, until the person's lime green eyes locked with her own. The shock on Natsuki's face slowly started to give way to pure amusement,

"Yuuki what the hell?" She laughed rather loudly as the red haired girl came to a stop a few feet away from her, wearing a nuns habit.

"Shut up! I'm still gunna beat the cra..."

"Ahahaha! You know aha it's kind of hard to feel threatened when you're dressed like that ahaha" Natsuki held her stomach as she continued to chortle loudly, which only infuriated the younger girl further,

"I said shut up! Damn it Kuga cut it out!" Nao scowled at the laughing girl, crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot as she waited for Natsuki to calm down. The blunette's laughter slowly teetered off to small chuckles until she finally fell quiet, though she was still grinning.

"I didn't know you were religious" She smirked causing Nao to scoff loudly,

"I'm not" Natsuki raised her eyebrow and shifted her eyes over the red heads clothing in an incredulous manner "Yukariko insisted that I do it alright. And I'd like to see you try and get out of something with Miyu Greer breathing down your neck!" Much to her annoyance Natsuki chuckled again. She clenched her jaw and then lunged towards the older girl, grabbing her top in a clenched fist and pulling her other back in preparation,

Natsuki scowled and ducked just as Nao's fist swung towards her. She twisted out of the red head's hold and stepped back quickly to avoid the hand that tried to grab her again,

"Yuuki cut it out! I don't have time for this!" Nao was frowning at her, clearly still pissed off, but she didn't attempt anything else,

"Got extra classes huh? Delinquent" Now it was Natsuki's turn to scoff,

"Right, because you're so much better" The blunette turned as if to head in to the building, aware that being late to her classes could have some rather detrimental effects.

"Whatever, but don't think I'm going to forget about kicking the shit out of you" The red head promised,

"That's fine, just leave it 'till later"

"Tsk, whatever" Natsuki smirked at Nao's response as she made her way towards the classroom her Japanese History lesson was taking place in. Nao might have been acting like she seriously wanted to harm her but she knew the girl was bluffing for the most part. Not that she wasn't expecting the younger girl to keep her promise; she was sure that Nao would punch her in the face at some point. But she wouldn't actually cause any real damage, maybe a few bruises here and there but nothing serious.

The two of them hadn't acted so violently towards each other since the start of their almost dysfunctional friendship. Back when they had first started hanging out they'd gotten in to physical fights on a regular basis, but it had slowly become less frequent as the weeks went by. She knew that their relationship would always entail some sort of aggressive behaviour so she wasn't worried. She did want to sort it out soon though, she'd much rather be having verbal spats with the red head than physical ones.

When the biker reached her classroom she quickly entered and took a seat away from the window, not wanting to have the distraction. There were a few other students there, some she recognised, some she didn't, not that she was bothered either way since she wasn't planning to talk to any of them. She pulled out her note pad and leaned back in her chair, waiting for the lesson to start. The sooner it started the sooner it would end. She was bored already.

* * *

><p>Shizuru was busy rearranging the boxes in her living room, making sure that they were clearly marked and that the boxes destined to fly back to Kyoto were separate from those she would be taking with her to her new apartment. She chuckled to herself as she saw what Natsuki had written on some of the boxes. While the Kyoto born had opted to simply write 'books' or 'kitchen' on the boxes she had packed, Natsuki had chosen to write 'Shizuru's crap'.<p>

She would be moving to her new apartment on Friday, which she'd discovered was the day that most other students would be moving in. She figured it was a good idea to move in at the same time as the others because she didn't really want to get there and find that everyone had already found a 'group' to socialise with.

She was both nervous and excited about the move. She was nervous because she would be moving to a completely new area, on the other side of Fuuka to be exact. She wouldn't know a lot of the people there since Fuuka University was quite popular, with students coming from across Japan to study there. It would also be a completely new experience in terms of living arrangements.

She'd never had to share her apartment before so having flat mates was going to be very different to what she was used to. She just hoped that it was a pleasant difference. She was still worried that her soon to be flat mates would end up being fans of hers, not that she was big headed or anything but...she was quite aware of how popular she was.

Never the less she was excited to see what type of people she would be living with. She hoped that they were at least somewhat intelligent and that they weren't messy, since she herself was quite a clean person. She also kind of hoped that they weren't overly interested in partying every night and getting drunk...since she was not all that interesting in such things. She did want to take part in the parties and drinking that went along with being a university student, just not to a ridiculous extent.

After she'd finished sorting the boxes she decided to make herself some tea and sat in front of the TV. She watched a couple of dramas, her eyes glancing at the time every now and then. It was just after 5pm and she wondered when Natsuki would be finished with her lessons for the day. She knew that the blunette would be working pretty hard for the next couple of weeks to catch up on a year's worth of studying and she just hoped that it wouldn't mean the girl would be unable to spend time with her.

As if hearing her thoughts her phone lit up and emitted a small chime, signifying that she had received a text message. She placed her tea cup down on the low table in front of the couch and picked up her phone, her face lighting up with a smile the second she saw Natsuki's name flash on the screen,

'_Hey, just finished my lessons. I hate history. I've got tons of homework to do already! I've got to sort something out with Nao tonight but do you think you could help me with my English work tomorrow?' _

Shizuru couldn't decide whether to smile or frown at the message; Natsuki wanted her to help tomorrow but was spending time with Nao tonight. The uncomfortable feeling she'd been having lately in response to Natsuki's friendship with Nao returned and the frown won over the smile. The way Natsuki had said 'sort something out with Nao' was too vague for her liking. She replied to the text and stared at the phone while waiting for the response,

'_I would love to help Natsuki with her homework. What are you 'sorting out' with Yuuki-san? x'_

'_Great! I'll come over after classes finish tomorrow then? And she's still going on about that guy from the other day. It's probably best that I just let her get it out of her system. You'll never guess what I found out about her today!'_

In truth Shizuru had no interest in what Natsuki had found out about the young red head, but she humoured her girlfriend anyway,

'_I look forward to it, though I am sure that Natsuki isn't as bad at English as she makes out. And I do hope that you are not planning to fight with Yuuki-san. What did you find out? x'_

'_I'm hoping to avoid a fight actually, though I'm not sure if it's going to work that way. And she's been training to become a nun! Yuuki, a nun! Lol' _

It was actually rather amusing to imagine the fiery red head dressed in a nun's habit and helping others through religion. What was not as amusing was the thought of Natsuki getting in to a physical fight with Nao. She knew that the two of them did occasionally have the odd scrap but she was not happy with it. She was pretty sure that Nao would not seriously hurt Natsuki but that didn't mean that she would go easy on her either.

Deciding that thinking about such things would only lead her down a path she did not want to go down, she replied to Natsuki with;

'_I imagine that Yuuki-san was somehow pressured in to that role, though it is still funny to think about it. Please be careful Natsuki. I'll see you tomorrow x'_

She knew that Natsuki would not reply to her text because she hadn't asked any questions and the blunette was not one for dragging out conversations. She then turned her attention to the TV, hoping to distract her mind.

It did in fact work for a little while, but when she moved away from the TV to make herself a fresh cup of tea her mind drifted again. She knew that she was being silly, really she did. But she just couldn't help feeling uncomfortable and a little worried about Natsuki's friendship with Nao. They were too similar for her liking and she worried that Natsuki found the red head more interesting to be around. She realised with a start that she actually felt somewhat threatened by the brash red head.

Her mind instantly told her that feeling that way was ridiculous. Natsuki's relationship with Nao was barely friendly at all, even if they did actually care for each other they couldn't really spend too much time in each other's presence without getting genuinely annoyed. And while their aggression and unwillingness to do anything nice for each other kept their friendship interesting it would never work if they actually tried being a couple...though it was fairly easy to chalk up their behaviour towards each other as the result of sexual tension...which did not make Shizuru feel any better.

She shook her head, this was pointless. In reality she should be more worried about Natsuki's relationship with Mai. She lived with the girl after all and the Kyoto born knew that they were close. That had been blatantly obvious earlier in the week when she had visited Natsuki at her apartment.

Mai had walked in while Natsuki had been asleep on her lap and had not questioned it what so ever, which made Shizuru realise fairly quickly that the red head knew about their relationship. Since Natsuki had asked if they could keep their 'status' fairly low key the blunette must have trusted Mai a lot to tell her.

What stopped her from feeling threatened by this though was the fact that Mai had a boyfriend, which would obviously indicate that the girl was not only taken, but also straight. With Nao, she didn't have that sort of comfort. She knew that Nao had lured and attacked several older men in the past and she had to wonder just how much the young red head hated the male population.

She felt stupid for feeling threatened by the 15 year old. It had taken her years to get the point she was at now with Natsuki and she was pretty confident that the younger girl would not simply decide to be with someone else. She knew that changing their relationship was a massive thing for Natsuki and not something that she would think lightly of.

Natsuki loved her. She just needed to keep reminding herself of that. It would help a lot if she could hear the younger girl say it though.

* * *

><p>Nao leant against the railings outside her dorm room door, waiting for a certain blue haired biker to make her appearance. She knew that the older girl would not be much longer since she herself had just returned from the school. Yes, she too was taking extra lessons. Like hell would she let Natsuki find out about that though.<p>

Within a couple of minutes the blunette trudged up the stairs and spotted Nao lounging at the top. She groaned,

"I thought I'd at least get an hour before you decided to pick up where we left off" Natsuki stood outside her own dorm room, arms folded across her chest and her annoyed, if slightly tired, eyes met Nao's.

"What's up? Tired after a day of actually using your brain for a change?" Nao goaded. Natsuki dropped her school bag on the floor and strode over to the shorter girl, stopping just in front of her with a scowl,

"Shut up, what do you want?" It was a silly question really, since she was pretty sure that the red head just wanted to punch her in the face and that would be it. She considered just giving the girl a free shot to get it over with so she could go and complete her homework and then sleep. She quickly dismissed that thought though, she was not one for going down without a fight, especially not when her opponent was Yuuki Nao.

"Come on, unless you're scared of course" Nao smirked and then started walking down the stairs in front of her, not bothering to wait for the older girl. She heard Natsuki curse quietly before she followed behind her.

She kept walking until they were stood in front of the dorm building on a flat patch of ground. Natsuki seemed to understand what was about to happen as she pulled her school jacket off and threw on the floor a few feet away, a disinterested look on her face. Nao smirked and then crouched slightly, preparing to lunge at the older girl and catch her off guard.

Of course Natsuki saw this coming and quickly braced herself, grabbing the fist that flew in her direction and twisting it around behind the red head's back, pulling a growl from the girl's throat.

"Gunna have to do better than that sponge brain"

"Are you ever gunna think of a better insult than that?" Nao sneered as Natsuki pushed her forward. She knew that she needed to up her game a bit if she hoped to land a decent hit against the older girl. Natsuki was much more experienced in close combat than she was, not that she was bad at it of course.

The blunette ducked under another punch as Nao spun around. She then placed her hands on the younger girl's shoulders and shoved, she wasn't being too rough, not wanting to actually hurt the girl, but the contact did push Nao off balance, which Natsuki used to her advantage by hooking her leg around the other girl's, sending her to the floor with a thud.

Nao growled and sprung to her feet quickly before diving at the older girl again and smirking when her fist connected with Natsuki's jaw. Natsuki cringed as pain shot through her, she gritted her teeth and lashed out with her own fist, catching Nao's ribs, which resulted in the younger girl releasing a grunt of pain.

Having both managed to get a hit in they put some distance between themselves, both smirking slightly as they eyed each other. Natsuki knew that if she hadn't managed to land a hit on the younger girl, Nao would have gotten her 'revenge' and they would have stopped fighting, but...she actually found that it was quite fun to blow off steam in this way and she was far too competitive to just give up.

Nao herself was no longer bothered about attacking Natsuki for what she'd said to Kenta, she had landed a rather powerful hit to the biker's jaw and she was pretty sure it would bruise. Even if that was the original reason for their little scrap, she found that with the adrenaline pumping through her system she wasn't quite ready to call it a day.

With that in mind she dived at Natsuki again, who side stepped her assault before tackling her from the side and trying to throw her to the floor. To counter this she twisted her body and planted her feet on the floor firmly, pushing back in to the older girl's body and grabbing one of Natsuki's arms to steady herself. She then pushed against the blunette's body with all her strength, shoving her backwards and copying Natsuki's earlier action by placing one of her legs behind the girl to trip her. Unfortunately Natsuki saw this coming and twisted as she fell, pulling Nao with her.

As with their fight a week earlier this meant that Natsuki ended up straddling the younger girl, pinning her to the floor. As the two of them lay trying to catch their breath, their eyes locked in an intense staring contest, neither of them willing to look away just in case they weren't quite done fighting yet.

As the adrenaline started to fade from Nao's system she became aware of what position they were in and a strange feeling washed over her as she continued to stare up in to those fiery emerald eyes. Her heartbeat raged in her ears from their previous activity and she felt like the weird tension between them was increasing with every second. The moment seemed to last for minutes but in reality it was mere seconds.

The silence was eventually broken by Natsuki, who laughed at the look of dread slowly creeping across Nao's face. The sound pulled the younger girl out of her daze and she yelled,

"What the hell Kuga! Get off!" Her cheeks flushed lightly as she shoved the older girl's shoulders. Natsuki rolled off her and decided to lie next to the red head as she continued to try and catch her breath. The two of them lay in silence and the strange atmosphere still hung around them... until Natsuki started laughing again. The sound immediately broke the tension surrounding them and Nao scowled at the blunette, her blush having disappeared,

"Shut the hell up or I'll hit you again!" Natsuki was not deterred by her words though and continued to laugh,

"I'm sorry haha your face was pretty funny though" Nao tried to maintain her scowl but found that it was easier to just laugh lightly instead. Besides, it took fewer muscles to smile than frown, and she didn't want to encourage the appearance of wrinkles on her face.

After a few minutes Natsuki first sat and then stood up, dusting off her uniform in the process before walking a few feet away to pick up her jacket. Nao got up too and jogged to catch up to the taller girl as they headed back up the stairs to their dorm rooms. As far as both girls were concerned their little argument was now over.

"You do realise that if my jaw bruises Shizuru is gunna be pissed" Natsuki suddenly realised and shared with the red head, who blanched at the thought. She hadn't thought about that. Of course, she wasn't about to admit that it worried her somewhat,

"Psht like I care" Natsuki just gave her a pointed look that clearly said she knew that Nao was just acting tough, she then smirked,

"Don't worry, I'll tell her that I got you back for it" Nao frowned; she didn't need to be reminded of the throbbing in her ribs caused by the bikers punch.

"Whatever" She said offhandedly before disappearing behind her dorm room door, leaving Natsuki to shake her head slightly before she entered her own dorm, picking up her school bag as she did so.

"I'm back" She called in to the apartment while kicking off her shoes and dumping her bag by the door. Mai was in the kitchen cooking if the smell of ramen meant anything and Natsuki quickly made her way in that direction.

"Hey Natsuki, how was your day?" the busty red head turned to look at her and a deep frown marred her features "What happened to your face?" Mai truly did act like a mother sometimes, it was quite humorous really.

"Crap and Yuuki happened to my face" She shrugged, but was seriously hoping that her jaw didn't look too bad; Shizuru would be less than pleased and she wasn't really sure how she would explain it to the older girl.

"What? Why did Nao-chan hit you? Is this about that guy?" Mai was stood in front of her in seconds, tilting her head to the side to inspect the injured area. Natsuki pulled her face out of the girl's grasp and stepped back a bit,

"I'm fine, it doesn't even hurt" This was a blatant lie since her jaw ached painfully whenever she moved it, but she wasn't about to admit that.

"Honestly Natsuki, you need to stop acting like such a brute all the time!" Mai scolded while digging through the freezer for some frozen vegetables or something similar that could be used as an ice pack,

"Oi! Yuuki hit me! How does that make _me _a brute?" The biker barked back, glaring at the red head and pointedly refusing to accept the offered bag of frozen peas.

"You're the older one! You should be encouraging Nao-chan to behave in a more appropriate manner. And I bet you fought back didn't you?" Mai continued to scold and Natsuki would not have been surprised if the girl said something like 'I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed'

"Of course I hit her back!" Annoyingly Mai reacted to this by swatting her over the head, "What the hell! And _you're _lecturing me!"

"Oh shut up Natsuki. Take this and hold it to your jaw" She shoved the frozen peas in to the blunette's hands and waited for the older girl to do as she was told. Natsuki decided that she'd had enough with the yelling and brought the make shift ice pack to her face, wincing at the cold temperature as it hit her heated skin.

"Does it really look that bad?" Natsuki asked, almost worried about what the younger girl would say. To her surprise Mai smirked at her slightly,

"Why? Are you worried that it will affect your looks?" The red head chuckled lightly when Natsuki's scowl deepened,

"No, it's just...Shizuru won't be happy about it" Mai raised an eyebrow at her, obviously not understanding what she was getting at,

"I'm sure Kaichou-san won't be too upset. She might even think you cool with it I suppose"

"N-no, I don't mean like that. She...well, she'll probably be pretty pissed with Nao about it" Then it clicked in Mai's head why Natsuki was worrying about it so much. Shizuru hadn't exactly been very forgiving of the middle schooler during the Carnival and she assumed that there would be some sort of residual feelings between them from that time.

"Well, you'll just have to make sure that it doesn't look as bad when you next see Kaichou-san by keeping that ice pack there" She pointed at the bag of peas and then smiled softly at her friend, who still looked a little troubled, "I'm sure that you will be able to calm her down if needs be Natsuki. Anyway," She reached out and lifted the peas from Natsuki's face for a moment to look at the skin beneath "with any luck it won't look too bad in the morning"

It was going to bruise, no doubt about it. But hopefully it would only be a slight discolouration of her skin rather than a massive purple splotch on her face. With a resigned sigh Natsuki trudged over to the couch, where Mikoto was sat watching the TV happily. The cat like girl had witnessed the commotion in the kitchen and as such, knew what had happened to Natsuki, but she refrained from saying anything. Being that she was both Natsuki's and Nao's friend she felt it best if she stayed neutral.

The blunette glanced at her school bag and sighed heavily when she realised how much homework she had to do. Extra lessons sucked...actually school in general was a complete annoyance. Her day had already seemed stupidly long and she really just wanted to eat some food and go to bed.

At least she'd managed to sort things out with Nao though, so she wouldn't have to endure any more angry phone calls...until she did something else to annoy the red head anyway. Still, sporting a bruised jaw while having piles of homework to finish was not her idea of a successful day. And she highly doubted that studying with Shizuru tomorrow was going to be a heap of laughs either. Sometimes she hated being Kuga Natsuki.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>So...apparently my fingers do not listen to me at all and decided to type the majority of this chapter without my consent...since none of it is in my plan XD That's right, over 10,000 words that weren't planned aha I was so determined to stick to my plan! XD

Oh well, it means you guys will probably get more chapters out of me :P I'm sorry that there wasn't much ShizNat in this chapter... I figured that Nao hadn't had much screen time (so to speak) in the past few chapters and I missed her lol so she was in this one quite a bit :P plus, it does tie in with one of the main issues that's creeping up :p

Incidentally I keep getting hit with random ideas for fics in the middle of the night (which is annoying as hell by the way lol), so don't be surprised if you see me posting some other stuff in the near future :)

Thanks for reading, leave a review if you like. Till next time;

~IlliterateKoi~


	10. Words

**Disclaimer:** Do I really need to say this every chapter? I don't own these characters.

**AN:** Thanks for the reviews/alerts/faves guys, much appreciated as always. Two chapters in one week? I spoil you guys ;)

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><p>Barricade<p>

Chapter 10: Words

"_There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief...and unspeakable love"_

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><p>The apartment was beginning to look a little weird to Shizuru, what with all her things slowly being packed away and all. With every item she placed in to a box the rooms became less personalised and the apartment was gradually starting to look as it had when she had first moved in; empty and uninviting.<p>

All the furniture in the apartment belonged to the school so she didn't need to worry about shifting them, the appliances however were hers and she wasn't entirely sure what she was going to do with them. She needed to decide which of them she would be taking with her.

For example, the tall lamp in the living room. She highly doubted that she would need it in her new apartment, but she was rather fond of it and was a little worried that it wouldn't make it back to Kyoto in one piece. And what about her telephone? She certainly wouldn't need it but she didn't particularly just want to throw it out either. She didn't even know what appliances would be in the new apartment so she wasn't sure if she would need any of the things from her kitchen.

The only things she knew for sure that she would be taking with her were her TV, alarm clock and bedside lamp. She had already boxed up the lamp and she wouldn't be moving her TV or alarm clock until Friday when she actually moved out.

Luckily she had enlisted Reito's help; he had recently passed his driving test and had said that he would be able to borrow his parents' car to help her out(1). She wasn't sure how else she would have gotten her things over to the complex otherwise. She wasn't particularly fond of the idea of hiring a van and/or a bunch of removal men.

With a small sigh she fell down on to her bed in a very un-Kaichou like manner. She really just wanted to get the move over with. She'd spent the last two hours packing away the various things in her bedroom and she still had to sort out her wardrobe.

She glanced over at the clock beside the bed and noted that she had roughly another 2 hours before Natsuki would finish her classes. Which should have been a decent amount of time for her to finish boxing things up, but...she tended to get distracted when doing this sort of thing since she would usually come across something she hadn't seen for quite some time.

Earlier on she'd found a couple of her old diaries and had sat reading them for a while, chuckling to herself at some of the things she had written. There were a lot of entries that just detailed what Natsuki had been wearing on that particular day...or if the blunette had said something particularly humorous...or how she had teased the younger girl.

Of course, there were also some less amusing entries that dealt with her thoughts and feelings regarding her unrequited love. It had been somewhat strange to read through those little snippets of thoughts with how things had changed just recently. It was probably only because of how things had changed that she had been able to read those entries at all. Had she still been feeling that way now she doubted that she would be anything but depressed after reading her diary.

She had purposely stopped reading when the dates started to near the beginning of the Carnival, knowing full well that she was nowhere near ready to delve back in to that frame of mind and deal with the consequences. She would need to face those fears at some point, but the memories where still too raw for her to even attempt it right now.

With another sigh she pushed herself up and off the comfortable double bed and headed for her wardrobe, it wasn't going to empty itself and she supposed that she should at least make a start on it. She made good progress over the next 45 minutes, leaving just enough outfits to take her through to Friday and packing the others away.

She couldn't help the fond smile that spread across her face as she neatly folded her old school uniform. It hadn't even been two weeks since she'd last worn it but it still felt nostalgic. She didn't need to keep it but...she decided to anyway...it might come in handy for something right? She wondered if she'd be able to persuade Natsuki to wear it for her sometime... Natsuki Kaichou...

Pushing away the naughty thoughts that invaded her mind, she placed the uniform in to a box and proceeded to tape it shut and write 'clothes' on the top using a black marker. The wardrobe looked strange with only 3 outfits in it, but that also drew attention to the objects she had stored in the bottom.

Kneeling down in front of the wooden furniture she pulled a familiar looking box towards her and on to her lap. The box itself had once contained a pair of shoes but now held a jumble of photographs and other miscellaneous items that she had thought it worth keeping at some point or another.

Amongst the seemingly random objects there was a plane ticket, from the first time she had come to Fuuka from Kyoto, various letters from her parents over the years, a small pendant that had belonged to her grandmother, a smooth pebble that had she had brought with her from her favourite garden in Kyoto and small scrap of paper that read;

'_Do you think Suzushiro-san will stop yelling any time soon? I would very much like some more tea and to continue our talk about the new red head ;)' _

The note had been from Reito and had been subtly written and passed to her during one of Haruka's unbearably long rants about the lack of student discipline. The dark haired boy had certainly been helpful when she thought she might fall asleep during council meetings. The 'red head' Reito had mentioned had in fact been Mai, so it was somewhat humorous looking back now.

She had placed the note in her jacket pocket to hide it from Haruka's suspicious gaze and had found it later that day when she got home. She didn't know why she felt the need to keep it, but it always brought an amused smile to her face when she read it.

She turned her attention back to the box and ran her fingers over the smooth material of a blue ribbon before lifting the strip of fabric from the container and smiling lightly. The ribbon had the Kanji for Natsuki's name written on it in her elegant script. She had prepared it for the festival while in her second year of high school but hadn't had the courage to actually tie it to the railing in the crystal shrine.

She had found the courage during her final year though and couldn't help but chuckle at how things had turned out. She'd never really believed in the silly tradition but at that time she had been so desperate that she gave it a shot. Perhaps she should have had more faith in it from the start.

After placing the ribbon back in the box, she lifted out the pile of photographs. Most of them were of her parents and/or herself when she was younger. She'd brought them with her when she first moved to Fuuka to fend off the homesickness.

She flicked through the photos with a small smile and made a mental note to visit the elder Fujino's at some point in the near future. Amongst the pictures of her parents there was a strip of photographs that had been taken in one of those booths you usually found in amusement arcades and such like. Her smile grew as she took in each of the four pictures on the strip, easily recalling the memory of having them taken.

The first picture showed herself, smiling and looking at the camera, a scowling Natsuki by her side, who was pointedly looking _away _from the camera. The second showed Natsuki clearly trying to leave the booth while Shizuru tried to keep her there. In the third Natsuki had returned to her seat but was still scowling, with the pleasant addition of a blush, while Shizuru was grinning widely, probably in response to whatever she had just said to the younger girl.

The last picture was the best one though. Both girls were smiling and looking at the camera, and although Natsuki was blushing even further in this one, she had allowed Shizuru to rest an arm around her shoulder. It was incredibly cute and Shizuru laughed lightly at the memory. It had taken her a good half hour to even get Natsuki to enter the booth and several more minutes to convince her that she wouldn't show anybody the pictures they took.

She had kept her promise; nobody else had seen the strip of photos. Natsuki had gotten her own copy of course, though she had said that she was going to throw them away when she got home. Shizuru wondered if the younger girl had thrown them away, or whether she had secretly kept them. She then realised with a frown, that even if Natsuki _had _kept them, they would most likely have been destroyed when Nao obliterated her apartment.

Then she wondered if perhaps she would be able to persuade the blunette to let them take some new ones. She didn't think it would be as difficult as it had been back then, but she did acknowledge that it still wouldn't be all that easier either. Natsuki certainly wasn't a fan of having her picture taken. But, she was sure she would be able to bring the girl round to the idea.

She continued to stare at the strip of photographs, taking in their slightly younger looking faces, their smiles, the way Natsuki was quite clearly uncomfortably with the whole thing... it was almost sad to think back to those days.

She had been so madly in love with the younger girl and Natsuki hadn't even suspected a thing. To the bikers defence though, Shizuru wasn't exactly known for giving away how she really felt about anything, unless she really had too. And even then the chances of her being _completely _honest and open were slim to none.

She had always kept her emotions under tight wraps, but she had tried extra hard to make sure that Natsuki never found out about her feelings. She hadn't ever wanted the younger girl to find out, she'd been scared that the girl would be disgusted and never want to see her again. Because, for all the charm and confidence she was known for, underneath it all she was just an average teenage girl who was deeply in love with her best friend.

Her intense feelings for the young blunette had been overwhelming at times though and she had learnt to deal with that through well placed teases that allowed her to show her affection but also keep the blunette in the dark about her true motives. It had become increasingly difficult to make do with the odd tease though, and she had been struggling to keep her emotions hidden well enough behind her mask.

The Carnival had shattered her mask completely and her love for Natsuki had driven her to the edge. Love was well known to make people crazy at the best of times, and the Carnival had been anything but 'the best'.

She shook her head slightly to try and clear her mind of such thoughts; she really didn't want to go there, not today. She quickly placed all the photographs in the box and then slid it back in to the confines of her wardrobe. She would pack it later, right now, she wanted to sit down in front of the television and watch a sappy TV drama with a nice cup of tea while she waited for Natsuki to arrive. She couldn't wait to wrap her arms around the girl.

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><p>Natsuki yawned as she rounded the corner and rubbed the back of her neck tiredly. Extra classes were hell. How was she realistically supposed to learn a year's worth of stuff in two weeks? It was completely ridiculous. But, it did make her rather determined to not let this happen again next year. Like hell she was going to skip classes if this was the punishment.<p>

As she neared Shizuru's apartment she started to feel nervous. Her jaw had indeed bruised and she knew that the older girl would probably notice it right away. Luckily it didn't look too bad, just a bit yellow instead of the purple she'd been dreading. She had debated trying to cover it up somehow but had soon given up on the idea. Wearing something with abnormally large collars that covered her jaw would probably just draw attention to it and she certainly wasn't going to wear makeup.

Climbing up the stairs to Shizuru's apartment seemed to take longer than usual, probably because she was tired and her legs complained about the exercise. When she did eventually reach Shizuru's door she took a deep breath in preparation and then knocked in her usual manner. She'd text the older girl a few minutes earlier to say that she was almost there so she knew the girl would be expecting her.

She smiled sheepishly when Shizuru opened the door, feeling awkward as she waited for the girl to notice her jaw. She wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or not when the Kyoto born didn't seem to spot it; she kind of wanted to get it over with.

"How was your day?" Shizuru smiled softly while moving to the side to let the blunette enter the apartment.

"Boring" Was the bland response as Natsuki kicked off her shoes and made her way further in to the almost empty apartment, taking note of the boxes piled up in the corner. There seemed to be more there now and she assumed that Shizuru had been packing away the things from her bedroom. She walked to the small table in the living room, to the left of the couch, and dropped her bag on to it. It was a relief to not have the weight of those textbooks on her shoulder anymore. She then shrugged off her school jacket and hung it on the back of the nearest chair.

Shizuru watched as the younger girl rolled her shoulders slightly, obviously trying to ease the tension there, before moving forward and wrapping her arms around the girl's body from behind. She felt Natsuki stiffen in the embrace slightly but she soon relaxed. Shizuru rested her forehead on Natsuki's back and inhaled deeply, her nostrils filling with the scent of the biker.

Natsuki felt like something was off with the older girl. She wasn't sure why, Shizuru had certainly given her a decent amount of hugs like this one, but for some reason it felt different. Like Shizuru was doing it purely for her own comfort. Unsure what to do she just stood there for a moment.

She heard the older girl exhale deeply and the arms around her waist loosen their hold. Before they could completely retreat though she placed her own across them, holding them in place as she spoke,

"Shizuru, is something wrong?" Her voice was quiet and had she been speaking to anyone other than Shizuru she would have been embarrassed by how soft it was too. The older girl's arms tightened their hold around her waist again and she felt the girl's breath on the side of face as the Kyoto born's chin rested on her shoulder,

"Why would Natsuki think that?" Her voice was barely above a whisper but she sounded like her normal self and Natsuki wondered if she was just reading in to things too much as usual. She wasn't sure how to answer the girls question either, she just sort of...had a feeling that something was bothering Shizuru, but she wasn't sure how to explain it.

As if sensing that no answer would be forthcoming, Shizuru pulled out of the embrace and the blunette let her go this time. If she had turned around a second quicker she would have seen the worry and insecurity swirling in those deep crimson eyes, as it was, she was a bit too slow and the emotion was hidden by a mask of amusement.

"So, is Natsuki ready for her English lesson?" The biker groaned, forgetting all about the weird feeling she'd had in favour of complaining about the language she did not want to learn,

"Why do we even have to learn it anyway? It's not like I'm planning to ever use it" She grumbled while pulling out her text book and note pad.

"English is a very good language to learn. Especially if you plan to work in a business environment" Shizuru knew just how important her own language skills would be once she started to get involved with her parents company.

It wasn't uncommon for her father to take part in meetings where the majority of people in the room spoke different languages, and it was only because they all spoke at least a decent amount of English that they could understand each other. Understanding was particularly important when you were discussing business matters after all.

"I'm not planning to work in a business environment, why would I want to sit in a stuffy office all day in front of a computer or be forced to go to meetings that I would have trouble staying awake for?" Natsuki continued to grumble,

"Well it never hurts to be prepared does it?" She smiled as Natsuki finally sat down with a sigh at the table. Deciding that she would need some tea before they got started Shizuru informed the younger girl where she was going and then moved to the kitchen to brew some of her favourite beverage.

Natsuki propped her head up with her hand and drummed her pen against the note pad in front of her. Her eyes scanned the various work sheets laid out across the table and her eyebrow twitched in mild annoyance. How did they honestly expect her to complete all this homework for tomorrow? It was completely unreasonable!

"Would you like some tea Natsuki?" Shizuru's voice questioned from the kitchen and Natsuki shook her head absently before realising that the other girl couldn't see it and speaking up,

"No, I'm good thanks" She wasn't really fond of the bitter beverage that her girlfriend loved so much.

"Would you like anything else to drink?" She quickly thought about the question and decided that yes, she was a little thirsty,

"Um, just some water or something" Shizuru soon returned to the table with a glass of water and her own cup of tea, which she placed on the table after taking a couple of sips. Since Natsuki had taken a seat with her back to the couch she took the one at the end of the table, to the girl's right. She would have preferred to sit directly next to the biker but she realised that the younger girl would need the space for all the bits of paper and what not. Once she was comfortable she asked,

"What does Natsuki have to do for her homework then?" Apparently Shizuru was going to go about this in a very methodical and straight forward manner. Natsuki picked out one of the sheets of paper and glanced over it with a frown,

"Well, for this one I have to write a paragraph about myself in English..." she picked up another sheet "This one says that I have to answer the questions in English...and the questions themselves change to English half way through so I have no idea what they're even asking" The blunette continued to riffle through the bits of paper, getting more frustrated as she did so, which Shizuru found quite amusing to watch.

"How am I meant to explain what the story is about when I don't even understand the language?" Natsuki scowled and gave Shizuru a pleading look, she could tell that the older girl was laughing at her in her head and it only caused her scowl to deepen,

"Are you going to help me or not?" She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest in annoyance. Shizuru chuckled lightly in to her tea cup before placing it back on the table and picking up the nearest sheet of paper,

"Of course, I said that Natsuki only needed to ask did I not?" She glanced at the piece of paper in her hands and noted, with amusement, that it was the one she'd been hoping for,

"Well I thought that being here with all this stuff would be enough of a clue" Natsuki grumbled, with her arms still folded in front of her. She did pick up on the hint of mischief swirling in those crimson eyes though and narrowed her own in response "What?"

"Nothing. Now, for this one you have to write about yourself. So why don't you start by writing it out in Japanese first and then at least you have something to work off" That made sense she supposed, so with a slight nod, she turned to her note pad and pressed her pen to the page as if to write...only she wasn't sure _what _to write.

She had to write about herself...but did that mean what she looked like? What she did in her spare time? What kind of person she was?

Shizuru watched as the younger girl alternated between twirling the pen in her fingers and pressing it to the paper. Her amusement slowly started to grow as this continued and she wondered how long it would take for Natsuki to give up and ask her for her input. To her credit Natsuki did manage to last quite a while, but with a resigned sigh she eventually turned her attention to the older girl, who was smiling expectantly at her,

"Um...what am I supposed to write?" She asked with a slightly sheepish expression,

"Something about Natsuki"

"Y-yeah...but what?" Shizuru looked away for a moment and brought her finger up to her chin as she struck her 'thinking pose'. After a minute she looked back at the girl with a small smile,

"I suppose you could write about things that you enjoy doing" Natsuki seemed to think about this for a second and then nodded. Shizuru watched as the girl actually started to write, predictably about her bike and Xbox. All too soon though Natsuki was back to drumming her pen against the piece of paper and Shizuru smiled,

"Is everything alright Natsuki?" To her amusement the biker looked at her with a slight blush,

"Y-yeah I just... I don't know what else to write" She rubbed the back of her neck "It's meant to be a paragraph but I've only got two sentences" She elaborated, hoping that Shizuru would be able to help her out.

"Well, what have you written down?" Shizuru was trying to stop herself from grinning; she'd known that this would happen,

"Riding my bike and playing my Xbox" Natsuki couldn't believe that her life was so boring that she only had two things written down. She was a bad ass biker chick but she only had _two _'hobbies'? What the hell kind of self respecting delinquent was so boring?

"Oh, well I can think of a few other things that Natsuki likes" The second the words left Shizuru's lips Natsuki tensed...she had walked right in to this one hadn't she? God damn it! "For example, she likes mayonnaise does she not?" Natsuki knew better than to feel safe by Shizuru's first suggestion, she knew that more would be coming...

"And she enjoys collecting lingerie"

"Shizuru" She warned the girl as a light blush rose to her cheeks,

"And she likes to wear the occasional dress" The older girl continued regardless, counting things off on her fingers as she said them.

_"Shi-zu-ru" _

"Oh, and she enjoys kissing her girlfriend no?" As her face flushed further she glowered at the older girl,

"Shizuru! I can't write any of those things in my homework!"

"Ara, why not? Does Natsuki not like kissing me?" And now she was pouting. Damn it again! Not only was Shizuru teasing her here she was actually waiting for an answer! "Ikezu" Shizuru sniffed, knowing that she had the younger girl exactly where she wanted her.

"Damn it Shizuru! Yes, I do. Now can we please get back to my homework?"

"You do what?"

"What?" Natsuki barked, now blushing bright red. She seriously just wanted to focus on her work before her head exploded or she overheated, both were beginning to feel like probable possibilities.

"Natsuki said 'yes, I do'. What did she mean by that?" The blunette growled at her girlfriend's infuriating behaviour,

"You know damn well what I meant!" Shizuru was struggling to keep going with this tease in all honesty, she used to tease Natsuki to the point where she worried for the girl's health on a regular basis, but she hadn't really done so recently. Which was probably why the poor girl was having such a strong reaction to her words and also why she felt a bit guilty...not guilty enough to stop mind,

"Why is Natsuki shouting at me?" She added a pang of sadness to her voice and sniffed again. When she heard Natsuki sigh she could smell victory.

"I-I didn't mean to"

"Natsuki ikezu" She dipped her head for added effect, knowing that her bangs would cover the amusement in her eyes,

"I'm sorry. I meant that I... I like k-kissing you alright?" For some reason, Shizuru wasn't really bothered about her supposed 'victory' anymore...instead she found that all this talk of kissing made her want to _actually _kiss the biker. This was impossible from her current position though and with all the teasing she'd just done she doubted that the younger girl would react very well anyway.

Natsuki studied what she could see of Shizuru's face as she waited for the girl to respond, she had expected the Kyoto born to say something to finish her tease by now. Yes, she had realised that the older girl was teasing her, but there was something about the way Shizuru pretended to be upset that tugged at her heart. She supposed it went back to her thoughts about Shizuru using her teases as a way to both tell her and hide from her what she was really thinking/feeling.

When the older girl's lack of response began to make her nervous she quickly stood up, making Shizuru jump at the suddenness of the movement. She didn't explain her actions though, at least not in words. Instead she moved quickly around the table, one hand supported her weight on the table top while the other reached out and used the older girls chin to turn her face. With a quick look in to clearly shocked crimson eyes she leant down and pressed her lips to Shizuru's.

The second that Shizuru realised that Natsuki was kissing her she melted in to it, turning her body to face the younger girl so that her neck was at a less awkward angle. As she returned the kiss she felt Natsuki's hand move from her chin to her cheek and then to the back of her head, holding her in place. She opened her mouth to give Natsuki's probing tongue access and suppressed a moan as it swirled around her own.

Maybe it was having the blunette looming over her, or the way that the younger girl was clearly the one controlling their kiss, but Shizuru felt her mind haze over and her body heat up much more quickly than she was used to. It was certainly very different, having Natsuki be the dominant one, though it was most definitely a nice experience. Unfortunately it ended much sooner than she would have liked and Natsuki pulled away, her intense emerald eyes boaring in to her own as if searching for something.

Shizuru released a shaky breath and then smiled softly, bringing her hand up to cup the girl's flushed cheek as she spoke,

"Ookini Na-tsu-ki" Her thanks seemed to settle the intense look in the blunette's eyes and it was only then that Shizuru remembered how that kiss had come about in the first place. Yes, helping Natsuki with her homework had been a good idea.

She continued to smile at the younger girl as she stood back up to her full height, her cheeks still flushed a deep red. The smile soon fell off Shizuru's face though when she noticed the discolouration on the girls jaw. She hadn't been able to see it before due to the way they were sat, or perhaps it was because the blush on Natsuki's face made the bruise stand out more. Either way, she had seen it, and she felt a flash of anger roll through her.

"Natsuki?" The blunette furrowed her brows in confusion at her girlfriend's sudden change in mood. The smile was now gone and those crimson eyes no longer looked content and happy...more angry and intimidating. She realised with a start that the older girl must have spotted the bruising on the side of her face, something that she herself had forgotten about _'Shit' _

"Y-yeah?" The nervousness she was feeling was evident in her voice as Shizuru stood up in front of her and she had to fight the urge to back away,

"Who did that to you?" She already had a good idea who had marred the blunette's beautiful skin, but she needed to be sure. Natsuki swallowed at the serious tone in Shizuru's voice,

"Um, it's fine. It doesn't hurt or anything so..."

"Natsuki, that isn't what I asked. Please tell me" There was something innately scary about Shizuru right now, and although Natsuki knew that the Kyoto born would never hurt her she couldn't help but feel threatened. She swallowed and thought through her options.

The blunette considered just ratting Nao out, she would much rather the stupid red head have to deal with the consequences of their fight than her. But, because this was Nao, she couldn't do that. Shizuru and Nao didn't exactly have positive emotions regarding each other and she'd be damned if she made that worse. Besides, the fight was technically her fault, she had provoked Nao after all.

Still, she couldn't very well lie to Shizuru. Firstly, she was pretty sure that the Kyoto born already knew who had caused the bruising and secondly, she knew that Shizuru would see through any lie she tried to concoct anyway.

Apparently Shizuru took her silence to mean that she wasn't going to answer at all and moved forward. This time Natsuki did back away, almost tripping over her chair as she edged around the table.

"Um..." Shizuru's intense gaze did not leave hers and no matter how much she wanted to look away she couldn't. Those crimson eyes bore in to her, the powerful swirl of dangerous emotions behind them making the bikers heart stammer in her chest. There was certainly something very scary about being on the receiving end of Shizuru's stare.

"Natsuki, tell me who hurt you" Shizuru's voice had now turned almost dangerous and Natsuki swallowed hard. There had to be a way to sort this out that didn't involve Nao getting seriously injured.

"A-alright, just...promise me you won't try to do anything?" She was still stepping backwards, and Shizuru was still following her "Shizuru?" She questioned when the Kyoto born didn't reply. Her heart beat was beginning to pick up pace as the look in Shizuru's eyes seemed to increase in intensity. She seriously hated Nao in that moment.

She noticed the older girl's eyes briefly flick over her shoulder before returning to her face, a small smile forming on her lips. Before she could even begin to wonder what the girl was smiling about her back met something solid and Shizuru's arms were placed on either side of her body, effectively trapping her.

Maybe walking backwards hadn't been such a good idea, since she had somehow ended up walking straight in to the small segment of wall that jutted out from the doorway, separating the kitchen from the rest of the room slightly. She laughed nervously as Shizuru continued to stare at her.

It took her two more seconds to decide that Nao could very well deal with the shit she had gotten herself in to,

"I-it was Yuuki" The second Shizuru heard the red heads name she was overwhelmed, but not by the anger she had been expecting. Her thoughts quickly reminded her that she thought Nao was a threat and her possessive nature reared its head. She felt an overpowering need to make Natsuki understand who she belonged to. Of course, her preferred method was to take the girl's lips in to a passionate and powerful kiss.

Natsuki had no idea what was going on, but the second she felt the velvety warmth of Shizuru tongue forcing its way in to her mouth she really couldn't care less. She tried to return the kiss as much as she could but it was more than clear who was dominating it. See could feel the torrent of emotions pouring out of the older girl and the intensity of it all made her legs feel weak.

She tried to ground herself by placing her hands on the girl's shoulders but as soon as she did Shizuru's own hands started to move too. The Kyoto born let her left hand rest on Natsuki's hip while the other trailed up the girl's stomach, between her breasts and across her collarbone before coming to a rest on her neck, holding her in place. Meanwhile the thumb of her left hand found its way under Natsuki's top and started drawing circles on the heated skin beneath, just above the hem of girl's skirt.

Natsuki shivered at the sensation and tightened her grip on Shizuru's shoulders. This was insane, she'd never felt anything like this before. Yes they had done a bit of this the other day on the couch but it hadn't been this intense. Part of her mind told her that something might be wrong with Shizuru for her to suddenly be acting this way, but the thought was soon pushed away by the sound of a low moan from the older girl.

Her heartbeat roared in her ears and her lungs burned from lack of oxygen, but before this became an actual issue Shizuru abandoned her mouth and moved elsewhere.

Natsuki didn't get the chance to regain her breath, as Shizuru soon found the sensitive skin of her neck and began to suck, lick and nip at her pulse point, pulling a gasp from the younger girl's throat. Natsuki tried desperately to steady her irregular breathing, she was beginning to feel a little light headed and she was sure that her legs were about to give out.

Shizuru was aware of this but did not stop her ministrations; in fact, she started to move her right hand again. She glided it over the younger girl's side, wishing that the cursed material of her hooded top wasn't in the way. She ignored that thought for the moment though and merely added a little more pressure to her touch, brushing her finger tips upwards until she reached the swell of Natsuki's left breast. Instead of hesitating as she had the other day, she instantly moved to cup the mound in her hand.

Natsuki gasped loudly at the touch, her heart stuttering dangerously in her chest and her grip on Shizuru's shoulders tightening significantly. Trying to calm her breathing was an impossible feat and she soon gave up on it in favour of focusing on keeping herself upright. She wound her arms around Shizuru's neck and was glad that she had when the hand on her breast started to massage and rub the sensitive area. A quiet moan fell unbidden past her lips and she squeezed her arms around Shizuru in response to the sudden wave of pleasure.

The small moan from the younger girl caused the muscles low in Shizuru's stomach to constrict and she released the skin she was working on to gasp. The exhalation of hot air on Natsuki's neck caused the girl to shiver and her breath to catch in her throat, her right hand tangled into chestnut hair as Shizuru continued to move her hand.

Natsuki had to bite back another moan as a shock of pleasure shot through her system. She no longer had the presence of mind to worry about her legs giving out, her mind was completely focused on the points of her body that were connected to Shizuru, particularly the older girls hand.

Shizuru gave the red mark she had made on Natsuki's neck a final kiss and then lifted her head to look at the younger girl's face.

Natsuki was flushed a deep red, her eyes tightly closed, eyelashes fluttering slightly and eyebrows furrowed. She was panting and Shizuru felt the haze of desire deepen and swirl in her stomach as she revelled in being the cause of such a reaction. Her own breathing was erratic but she paid it no heed and instead lowered her lips to claim Natsuki's once more.

Her hand dropped down from the biker's breast and slipped under the thin material of the girl's hooded top to press against the warm skin of her stomach. She felt the younger girls body shudder against her and smiled in to the kiss.

With Shizuru's hand no longer holding her captive Natsuki used the reprieve to try and clear her mind a little. She tried to push past the distracting feeling of Shizuru's fingertips brushing across the bare skin of her stomach and the searing kiss they were currently engaged in. This became difficult when Shizuru nipped at her lower lip abruptly, pulling a gasp from her throat and a low moan from the older girl.

The action did however make Natsuki realise what had happened. Shizuru was being possessive here, she was staking her claim so to speak and the cause of that behaviour had something to do with Nao. All thoughts of the red head soon disappeared though when Shizuru moved away from her mouth to blow a stream of hot air in to her ear before taking the lobe between her teeth and flicking her tongue across it.

Natsuki was panting again and her mind instantly honed in on the older girl's right hand as it drifted upwards, brushing against her heated skin before it found the hem of her bra and traced along the edge of the material. After Shizuru's hand had felt along the lacy fabric, she trailed her fingers tips up between the valley of her breasts, causing another wave of shivers to pass through the younger girl's body.

Shizuru let her breath cascade across the skin of Natsuki's neck as she felt the swell of the girl's right breast, tracing around it with her fingertips, slowly circling inwards...

_**RING RING****!**_ Natsuki's phone cut through the tension of the room and instantly broke the trance the two girls were in.

Shizuru jumped away from the blunette, her chest heaving and her breathing erratic. Natsuki wasn't in a much better state, her entire face was flushed deep red and her mind was fuzzy and unfocused. Taking deep breaths to steady herself, the biker looked at the Kyoto born, but found that the older girl had her head tilted downwards, chestnut bangs hid her eyes from view and her arms were wrapped around her torso in a self hug. Worry gnawed at Natsuki's gut but she wasn't sure what to say, and her phone was _still _ringing.

She flicked her eyes over Shizuru's shoulder to the table in the living room, where the ringing sound was emanating from. The awkward air surrounding them became too much and she darted past the older girl to grab her phone and answer it without checking the caller ID. She just hoped to god that it wasn't Nao on the other end.

"_Hey Natsuki, I was just wondering if you know what time you'll be back?" _Natsuki heaved sigh of relief the second Mai's voice met her ears,

"H-hey um" Her voice was shaky and it sounded somewhat deeper than her usual pitch so she cleared her throat with a cough before continuing, "I-I'm not sure yet" She glanced back at Shizuru, who had yet to move and was still facing away from her.

"_Are you ok? You sound funny" _Mai sounded slightly concerned, if a little confused and Natsuki felt her cheeks burn even further,

"Yeah, I'm fine, just tired" She lied, knowing that it would be a reasonable excuse,

"_Alright. How's the studying going? It was English today right?" _Natsuki looked down at the mass of paper on the table and sighed,

"Not too great really. I hate English" Mai chuckled lightly down the phone and Natsuki couldn't help but smile a little in response,

"_Well, keep at it, I'm sure Kaichou-san will help you out. Do you want me to make you something to eat or not?"_ The biker cast her gaze back at Shizuru again with a worried frown,

"No, it's fine"

"_Alright, well, good luck with your studies! See you later or tomorrow" _

"Yeah, later" Natsuki ended the call and placed the mobile on the table top quietly as she eyed the tawny haired girl. Why was Shizuru just standing there? Shouldn't she be smirking at her or trying to tease her in some way? Or trying to leave the apartment to track down a certain green eyed red head? She took a small step forward,

"Shizuru?" Even though she'd said the girl's name quietly her voice seemed abnormally loud in the otherwise silent apartment and it only seemed to make the awkward air surrounding them worse. The Kyoto born didn't turn to face her at the utterance of her name and Natsuki swallowed while her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. What was wrong with Shizuru?

The older girl had her eyes closed and even though she had managed to control her breathing her heart was still hammering in her chest. She couldn't believe that she'd just lost control like that. Her emotions had just overwhelmed her and her desire to make Natsuki hers had taken over.

She had been determined not to be forceful and had promised herself that she wouldn't act that way. And yet, she had. She had let her insecurities over power her better judgement and had acted without much thought as to what Natsuki might think. She felt very much like she had taken advantage of the girl and it only served to bring up painful memories.

She had told herself that she would be gentle and patient with the younger girl but instead she had pinned her to a wall and taken what she wanted, without even stopping to consider that Natsuki might not be comfortable with it. Guilt washed over her and chewed on her lip nervously. What was she meant to do now? How was she supposed to explain her actions to the younger girl?

A hand on her arm made her flinch and she turned to see Natsuki looking at her, worried and confused emeralds flitting across her face before landing on her eyes, staring in to them as if trying to decipher what was going on in her head.

Seeing Natsuki's concern made the guilt she was feeling constrict her heart, why did Natsuki have to be so kind all the time? Unable to hold the intense gaze she shifted her eyes downwards again, directing her sight at the light coloured carpet below.

"Shizuru, what's wrong?" The compassion in the biker's voice made Shizuru's stomach twist, it was not a pleasant feeling. Her mouth felt dry and her heart had yet to calm down enough to stop roaring in her ears. With her head lowered she spoke quietly,

"Kanin na" Natsuki's grip on the older girl's arm tightened slightly at the myriad of emotions in that simple apology. Why was Shizuru apologising though? It didn't make sense; she hadn't done anything wrong so why...?

"What for?" Her voice was quiet and filled with both concern and confusion as her eyes studied what she could see of the Kyoto born's face. Shizuru turned her head further away from her, as if trying to shield herself from the biker's enquiring gaze,

"For disregarding your feelings and only acting on my own" This only served to confuse Natsuki further and her brows furrowed once more. What was that supposed to mean? _'Acting on her own feelings? ...Wait... she doesn't...she can't think that she forced me into that... can she?'_ The realisation that this could well be the cause of her girlfriend's current demeanour made little to no sense to the biker.

How could Shizuru think that when she hadn't pushed her away? She had quite willingly gone along with it and in actual fact, had quite enjoyed it. Couldn't Shizuru see that? Surely the older girl knew that if she'd wanted her to stop she would have said something. Well, obviously not. Deciding that this had gone on long enough, Natsuki tugged lightly on the girls arm, trying to get the Kyoto born to look at her. When that didn't work she spoke up,

"Shizuru, look at me" Much to her relief her voice was steady and calm. Shizuru still didn't look at her though so she moved in front of the girl and reached out to place her hand on a smooth cheek. She urged Shizuru to lift her head and only when those beautiful crimson eyes met her own did she speak,

"You haven't done anything wrong" She made sure to maintain eye contact, wanting Shizuru to see the honesty in her eyes, "Alright?" Her tone was soft but determined; she wasn't going to let this drop until Shizuru knew that she wasn't bothered in the least by what had happened.

"But..." Shizuru started to protest, her gaze shifting downwards again. A slight nudge by the hand on her cheek made her raise them again though and she took in the affection and determination in those emerald eyes,

"No. You didn't do anything wrong. There's nothing wrong with touching me, okay?" Grateful that she had managed to get the words out without stuttering or blushing horribly she let a soft smile cross her lips. Shizuru seemed to search her eyes for a moment, looking for any trace of uncertainty or dishonesty perhaps. Natsuki didn't mind, since she knew her words to be true, and allowed Shizuru all the time she needed to feel secure about the situation.

Eventually Shizuru seemed to relax, and Natsuki took that as her cue to step forward and embrace the girl, wrapping her arms around the slender body in what she hoped was a comforting hug. Shizuru buried her head in the biker's neck and returned the embrace.

With the guilt slowly leaving her she felt the familiar surge of another emotion in her chest and held on to the younger girl a little tighter,

"Kanin na Natsuki, I just... I love you so much" The words were quiet, barely above a whisper, but the emotion in them, coupled with the tight hold Shizuru had on her body nearly knocked the wind out of the blunette. She realised then just how important words could be. Those words clearly expressed just how much Shizuru cared for her, just how much she meant to the older girl.

The meaning behind those words had sent Shizuru to the brink of insanity and back, had turned her in to a completely different person and made her so much more powerful than Natsuki would ever have thought possible. Three simple words that could convey so much when spoken with such emotion behind them.

Natsuki had never been one to use words to express herself. She usually found that her attempts at doing so were clumsy at best unless she was trying to convey anger or irritation. She had always been a stern believer in actions speaking louder than words but...she was beginning to see that sometimes words were not only necessary but sometimes a better way to properly express yourself. Actions could be interpreted however the recipient wanted, whereas words were more explanatory and left less room for the wrong interpretation.

With that in mind she started trying to articulate a response to Shizuru's verbal admission of love. Unfortunately, having come to an understanding that words were important didn't make it any easier for her to utter those three particular words that she knew the Kyoto born needed to hear and she cursed her inability to push through that.

Shizuru hadn't been expecting the biker to reply and as such was completely unaware of the battle Natsuki was having within her own mind. She herself was trying to gather her courage for the conversation she was about to initiate. She needed to get this off her chest, and she knew that it had to be done now before it completely took over her thoughts and made her do something she would later regret.

"Natsuki?" She was thankful that her voice did not give away how nervous or unsure she was, "Can I talk to you about something please?" She spoke quietly, her head still buried in the crook of younger girl's neck. She felt Natsuki tense slightly but she soon relaxed again and spoke quietly,

"Um, sure" A little annoyed with herself for letting the chance to voice her own feelings pass, Natsuki pulled out of the embrace when she felt Shizuru's arms loosen around her. The Kyoto born smiled tentatively at her and the blunette was a little shocked at how vulnerable the ex-kaichou looked.

Shizuru took the younger girl's hand in her own and pulled her gently towards the couch, wanting to sit down while she expressed her current concerns to the girl. Natsuki felt her worry returning as they sat down; Shizuru seemed nervous and instead of looking at her was directing her gaze at the low coffee table in front of the couch. She waited patiently for the older girl to start talking, the silence of the room pressing down on them and creating a tense atmosphere.

Noticing that her hand was still being held loosely in Shizuru's she moved it so that her fingers were threaded through the other girls and squeezed gently, which seemed to give Shizuru the courage she needed to start talking,

"Why do you like me Natsuki?" The younger girl tensed up at the question, having not been expecting it at all and also not knowing how to answer it,

"What?" Shizuru continued to stare at the coffee table while she spoke,

"I do not like motorbikes or video games. All I ever seem to do is embarrass you and I'm sure that my polite mannerisms and behaviour annoy you. I'm constantly scolding you for insignificant things. I'm not happy go lucky like Mai-san and I'm not exciting like Yuuki-san. So, what do you like about me?" The last part was basically the gist of what she getting at with her other statements. It all boiled down to the fact that she thought herself boring in comparison to someone like Nao. Natsuki was the type of person who easily tired of things and she was scared that the younger girl would realise one day that she was not exciting enough for her.

"I..." Natsuki faltered, she couldn't believe that Shizuru actually thought those things mattered. She needed to reassure the older girl but her brain was refusing to provide her with the words she needed to do so.

"Please. I need to know..." Shizuru looked at her, her eyes pleading and intense, the blunette's mouth went dry as she scrambled for something to say. She was once again reminded of her ineptness when it came to words and she struggled to open her mouth and say something. _Anything_. "Natsuki?"

Natsuki closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath to calm herself. She could do this; it wasn't a difficult question really was it? There were plenty of reasons that she liked Shizuru, all she had to do was put those things in to words,

"I..." _'Damn it Kuga! This is important! Stop being such a child and tell her!'_ She breathed deeply again and lifted her eyes to Shizuru's still anxious ones, "You're the only person that I feel... completely comfortable around and...You make me smile and laugh, even if it usually means I end up laughing at myself" She smirked feeling a bit more confident as the words flowed past her lips "You're the kindest person I know and you've helped me through a lot of shit over the years. I don't know who or where I would be without you Shizuru" The honesty of her words was a little startling to her own ears but she acknowledged that they were indeed true. In all fairness she would probably be sat in dingy bar in the middle of downtown Fuuka right now had Shizuru not befriended her way back when. She continued her speech,

"It might sound weird since I always seem to complain and scowl when we spend time together, but I have the most fun when I'm with you. I feel happy when I know that you're happy. You tease me mercilessly but if I get to see one of your real smiles I can live with it" She smiled softly as the nervousness in Shizuru's eyes started to fade in to affection "All that stuff about you not liking bikes or not being like Mai or Nao... they don't matter to me. I wouldn't want you to be like them anyway because then you wouldn't be you" She squeezed Shizuru's hand with her own lightly "I just... there's so many things that I like about you Shizuru...I guess I just like you because, well...you're you" She ended lamely, but Shizuru didn't seem to mind, in fact she appeared to be pretty happy,

"Ookini Natsuki" A light blush adorned the ex-Kaichou's cheeks and the blunette smiled widely at the older girl,

"No problem" Natsuki was just eternally grateful that she had apparently managed to say something right, there had been a high possibility of her messing that up. The relief she felt soon gave way to the desire to say something else to the older girl, something that would almost certainly be the best way to get rid of any lingering insecurities. At least for the time being anyway.

Shizuru felt so much lighter than she had moments before that she almost forgot why she had been feeling so insecure in the first place. The sight of the yellowish bruise on Natsuki's face instantly reminded her though and felt the nagging voice in the back of mind telling her to say something to the younger girl about it. Not about the bruise itself, but about the person who had caused it.

"So, Natsuki doesn't think that I am boring? She wouldn't prefer to spend her time with...Yuuki-san?" Natsuki seemed a little taken aback by her question but a look of understanding slowly crept across her face,

"Is that what this is really about?" Shizuru nodded slightly and chewed the inside of her lip absently as she waited for Natsuki's answer. She was pretty sure what the answer would be, especially after what the younger girl had just said, but...there was still that little bit of insecurity in her mind. Natsuki smiled softly at her again,

"Nao's my friend, and while I do enjoy spending time with her...occasionally" This managed to bring a small smile to the Kyoto born's face "I would rather be with you. Being with Nao might be 'exciting' in that we're usually doing something stupid or braking rules, but that doesn't mean that I find you boring. I said that I had the most fun when I'm with you right?" She waited for Shizuru to nod before continuing "How could I be having fun if you were boring? And, I would rather spend my time with you because..." _'Now or never, don't screw this up Kuga'_ "I love you"

Shizuru felt all the air leave her lungs and her heart make a serious attempt at jumping out of her chest. The honesty in the girl's voice and eyes left no room to question her sincerity. The second those words met her ears it felt like a ten ton weight had been lifted from her shoulders, she felt light, and she wasn't going to let her thoughts weigh her back down. Not now. The pure joy she felt overwhelmed her and she felt tears sting her eyes and a lump form in her throat.

Natsuki saw the first tear roll down Shizuru's face and felt a jolt of panic shoot through her, until she focused on the older girl's brilliant crimson eyes. She'd never seen them so happy, so bright and full of life, and she had put that there hadn't she?

She smiled and reached up to wipe a tear from the girl's cheek with the pad of her thumb. As she continued to stare in to her eyes, she got the sudden urge to do something that Shizuru had done to her a few days earlier. Without stopping to over think like she usually would have, she leant forward and gently placed her lips on the older girl's forehead in a show of affection.

Shizuru sobbed at the unexpected, but incredibly sweet gesture. She found herself gripping the front of the bikers top with one hand while the other tried to wrap around younger girl as much as it could in their current position. Thankfully, Natsuki manoeuvred herself to make this easier, and soon Shizuru found her head leaning against the bikers shoulder while fingers tenderly stroked through her hair as she continued to sob lightly.

Natsuki was practically cradling the older girl, and although it was certainly strange, and at first a little unsettling, to see her always strong friend cry like this, she didn't mind at all. She knew that the tears just represented how much her words meant to Shizuru, how much she had needed to hear them. And how much Shizuru loved her in return.

Natsuki continued to rub the older girl's back soothingly and stroke her fingers through silky hair. Shizuru's sobs slowly became less frequent and her grip on the bikers top began to loosen as she calmed down. She felt vulnerable and it took a lot of effort for her to not pull her mask up and hide it from the younger girl.

She managed it though, she would allow Natsuki to see her like that, only Natsuki. With that in mind she lifted her head from the bikers shoulder so that she could peer into those emerald eyes that she loved so much. The soft smile on Natsuki's lips made her heart flutter and she couldn't help but lean in to capture them in a sweet kiss.

When she pulled back she saw that a light blush had risen to Natsuki's cheeks and smiled affectionately,

"I love you too" Natsuki understood that this was a delayed response to her own utterances of those words, but she found them to be entirely unnecessary. Shizuru had no need to voice her love; it was written clearly on her face. She supposed that perhaps Shizuru just needed to say it though, she'd been unable to do so for so long, so it probably felt pretty good to be able to voice how she felt without fearing her reaction.

As she stared in to the watery eyes of the older girl she didn't think she had ever seen a more striking sight in her life. The openness of Kyoto born's expression was mind blowing and she quickly decided that Shizuru was even more beautiful when she let her emotions show like this. It made her heart swell and her stomach flip to know that she was probably the only person outside of Shizuru's family to have seen her like this.

She returned Shizuru's smile and then pulled her back in to their embrace, though she now leant back against the couch arm so that she could stay there as long as the older girl wanted her to without getting uncomfortable. Shizuru was more than happy about this, all she wanted to do in that moment was be close to Natsuki, and being held in the girl's protective embrace felt perfect.

They remained in that position for some time and Natsuki soon realised that the Kyoto born had drifted off to sleep, probably emotionally exhausted due to the past hour or so's events. She was feeling pretty tired herself but her gaze landed on the table a few feet away and she realised that she really couldn't afford to sleep her time away.

Being careful, so as not to wake the slumbering girl, the biker slowly slid out from underneath Shizuru until she was standing next to the couch. She took a moment to look down at her girlfriend, her hair splayed out slightly across the fabric of the couch and her face relaxed and strikingly beautiful. She brushed her fingers through bangs of chestnut hair and placed a light kiss to the girl's temple. With one last smile, she turned and made her way over to the table to continue her studies.

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><p>Shizuru tugged the sheets around her up a little more so that she could snuggle her face in to the soft material. She murmured something sleepily and tried to bury her head in to her pillow...only there was no pillow...and her bed was not as comfy as it usually was.<p>

As conscious thought returned to her she realised that she wasn't in her bed at all, but on her couch...which was most definitely as uncomfortable as Natsuki had always complained about it being. Then she remembered how she had fallen asleep and sat up abruptly, her eyes bleary from sleep as she scanned the area around her.

After rubbing her eyes she noted that it was dark, a dim blue light the only thing illuminating the room from the small window behind her TV. She quickly found what, or rather who, she was looking for. Or at least she presumed it to be Natsuki anyway. She could only see the girl silhouette, slumped over the table with her head on the flat surface.

The Kyoto born quickly realised that Natsuki must have left her to sleep while she continued to study and complete her homework. And apparently the biker had placed a sheet over her at some point while she slept, which made her smile at the consideration her girlfriend had shown her. She slowly rose from the couch and padded over to the younger girl, feeling a little guilty that she had slept while she was meant to be helping Natsuki with her homework.

As she reached the table she let her eyes scan the mess of papers on its surface and noted that Natsuki had managed to get most of the sheets filled in. She picked up the nearest sheet and read it as best she could in the dim light. The biker seemed to have done a pretty good job on it in actuality and Shizuru felt a little proud that her delinquent best friend had apparently been paying attention in class.

She spotted Natsuki's phone beside the girl on the table and pressed the large button on the front of it to illuminate the screen. She squinted against the bright light but managed to make out the time before it dimmed again; 3:47. She'd slept the entire night away apparently.

The younger girl twitched lightly in her sleep and Shizuru decided that it would probably be a good idea for them to both move to her bed. She highly doubted that sleeping in a chair as Natsuki was would be particularly comfortable and she was sure that the blunette's body would complain bitterly in the morning.

She placed her hand on the girl's shoulder and gently shook her,

"Natsuki" Her voice was quiet and still held remnants of her sleep, making it sound a little husky "Natsuki" She repeated when the younger girl began to move a little,

"Nhhh" Shizuru resisted the urge to giggle at her girlfriend's obvious disapproval of being woken up,

"Natsuki come on, you can't sleep there" Slowly but surely the biker began to wake up and she finally lifted her head a few moments later,

"Shizuru?" Her voice was thick with sleep and she sounded a little confused, which Shizuru found to be utterly adorable.

"Come on" She held her hand out towards the younger girl, who stared at it for a second before taking it in her own and standing up. The Kyoto born smiled, though she doubted that Natsuki could see it, and started walking towards her bedroom, suppressing a yawn as she did so.

When they reached the room Shizuru let go of Natsuki's hand and quickly went about changing in to some sleepwear. She heard the opening and closing of a draw behind her and assumed that Natsuki was doing the same. Her mind was too foggy with sleep for her to even consider trying to sneak a peek and as soon as she was done changing she flung the duvet back and practically fell on to her bed, snuggling in to her pillow.

She felt the bed dip slightly as Natsuki joined her and soon felt the duvet being pulled over her body, the cool material soon warming against her body. She released a content sigh as she relaxed in to the comfort the bed provided. It both surprised and delighted her when she felt a pair of strong yet slender arms wrap around her waist and pull her backwards to nestle against a warm body. She snuggled backwards in to the younger girl and let her right arm and hand lay over the other girl's as a lazy smile graced her lips.

She heard a faint murmur from behind her and presumed that the younger girl was probably trying to say goodnight to her, she responded with a happy sigh before giving in to the lull and drifting off to sleep.

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><p>(1) – The legal minimum age to drive in Japan is 18 as far as I'm aware.<p>

**AN:** I can't believe that I've written 100,000 words for this fic and it's only on chapter 10 ¬.¬ oh well.

...There was a lot of angst in this one huh? I'm not happy with this chapter really but I'm certainly not going to bother even trying to re-write it; it would take too long and I'm far too lazy :P

Next chapter will finally be Shizuru moving to uni (this was meant to happen 2 chapters ago XD) lol which of course means that we get to meet her flatmates ;) And see Natsuki's reaction of course –evil laugh- I've been dying to write the scenes with the flatmates for a while now so I'm glad I'm almost there!

Also, expect a change in rating fairly soon ;^_^

Thanks for reading, reviews are always nice and I'll hopefully see you next time,

~IlliterateKoi~


	11. Change

**Disclaimer: **I do not own these characters, they belong to Sunrise.

**AN:** Thanks for all the reviews! I certainly wasn't expecting to have 80 reviews by chapter 10...if I ever got that many at all haha So thanks a bunch for helping me get there :) Just got to try and hit 100 now eh? ;)

Sorry for taking so long with this chapter, been mad busy all week, but hopefully you guys will forgive me... please? It's another long chapter! D:

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><p>Barricade<p>

Chapter 11: Change

"_He that is not jealous is not in love"_

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><p>It was a cold morning, considering that it was almost the end of March, and Shizuru snuggled further in to the warmth of her bed to shield herself from the cool air that penetrated her apartment. Her mind was not yet fully awake and she lay there in a semi-conscious state for a little while. It didn't take her thoughts long to inform her that there was something missing though.<p>

The Kyoto born rolled over and reached her hand out across the bed sheets, searching for a certain blue haired biker's body. When she found nothing but an empty space, she opened her eyes with a frown. She propped herself up on one elbow and let her eyes drift over the space her girlfriend should have been occupying. Why would Natsuki leave her here, in bed alone, _again?_

Before she could start getting worked up, her mind reminded her of something and the younger girl's absence suddenly made sense. It was Wednesday; Natsuki had extra classes. With a relieved sigh Shizuru shifted her elbow and let herself fall back on to the mattress. She couldn't help but giggle at her own behaviour quietly, how had she forgotten something like that?

She wished that Natsuki had woken her to say goodbye though, now she was going to have survive an entire day without seeing that beautiful face of hers. She pouted; Natsuki could have at least given her a morning kiss. Feeling completely silly for pouting at an empty room she giggled again. Apparently she was in a good mood, despite the very unfortunate lack of Natsuki.

The Kyoto born easily recalled the previous night's events and smiled, of course she was happy; Natsuki had finally said those three magic words. Just thinking about it made her pulse increase and woke the butterflies in her stomach. Natsuki loved her. Natsuki loved her in the same way that she loved the biker. Happy days.

Fighting the urge to giggle again into the empty apartment she rolled over to check the time. She was a little shocked to see the numbers staring back at her; 09:46. She hadn't been awake this early since she had graduated! In fact, she'd almost forgotten that there were two 10 o'clocks in the day.

She assumed that she had woken up several hours before she usually would because she'd fallen asleep so early the night before. She didn't mind being awake at this time, especially since she still had packing to do and such like. In fact, she only slept in so late out of habit; it wasn't like she did it on purpose or anything...most of the time anyway. She had always enjoyed having a nice lie in whenever possible and her mother had always complained about her daughter's habit of sleeping the day away.

She rolled back onto her other side and hugged the pillow Natsuki had been using last night to her chest. She buried her face into it, taking in the younger girl's scent and smiling into the fabric. She soon rolled on to her back, taking the pillow with her and closed her eyes. Happy thoughts buzzed through her mind and she actually found it to be rather strange. Normally, should her thoughts be filled with only positive things, her mind would quickly find something negative to lower her mood.

This didn't seem to be happening now though. Even when she did think about things that would usually bring her mood down she found that she just didn't care at the moment and her happiness overwhelmed any negative emotions within her. She certainly wasn't complaining, it felt so nice to just be happy, without worrying or feeling guilty.

She couldn't actually remember the last time she had felt this good about her life. Probably when she was a small child, when she knew nothing of the outside world and everything within her little bubble was completely perfect. Ah, to be a child again. She actually felt somewhat child-like at the moment, all giddy and unable to stay still.

Even as she lay on her back her feet were moving to an imaginary tune and her entire body just felt...alive. She'd anticipated Natsuki's words having an effect on her but she hadn't been expecting it to be quite so intense, especially since the younger girl wasn't even there. Fighting the urge to pout again at her lack of Natsuki, she decided she that she may as well get up.

She left a trail of clothes from her room to the bathroom, something she often did when she was in a particularly good mood. Whenever she felt in high spirits she really couldn't bring herself to act like the prim and proper daughter of Mr and Mrs Fujino, or the elegant Kaichou of Fuuka Gakuen. Instead she let herself be plain old Shizuru for a while, which often meant that she resorted to acting like a normal teenager and making a mess.

Of course, this wouldn't last, no matter how good her mood was. She was an innately clean person and wasn't fond of things being out of place. Every once in a while was ok though. It didn't take her long to realise the errors of her ways as the cold air hit her skin. She shivered lightly while waiting for the shower to warm up, one hand held under the running water to test the temperature. Soon enough the spray of water started to create steam and Shizuru quickly stepped under it, feeling it warm her body immediately.

As the water washed away any remnants of sleep she started to plan her day. She knew that she needed to finish her packing if at all possible and she figured that since she'd gotten up earlier than usual she should be able to do it. She only needed to finish boxing up things from her room and then there would just be a few bits here and there in the rest of the apartment.

She also needed to contact her parents in relation to her belongings that she wanted to send back to Kyoto. She didn't really want to leave the boxes in the apartment once she moved out, even if the school wouldn't be 'taking it back' for another week yet.

Once all the packing was out of the way there wasn't really much else for her to do. She kind of felt like she needed to get out of the almost empty apartment, especially since she'd hardly left it at all in the past week or so. But, she didn't really have anywhere to go and the only person she felt like spending her time with was Natsuki. Reito would have been possibility if he weren't busy himself, getting ready for his own move to Fuuka University.

Though, thinking of the dark haired boy reminded her that she needed to ask him about the arrangements for Friday. She presumed that he would be moving his own things to his new dorm room before coming to help her. She wanted to know for certain though so that she could ask for Natsuki's help.

She wanted Natsuki to be there on Friday not just for the extra help on the physical side of things, but also as a sort of comforting presence. She was starting to feel a little anxious about the move, but she knew that having her girlfriend there would help to keep her calm and comfortable.

So, her three tasks for the day were; Finish packing, contact her parents and speak to Reito. After that she would probably just curl up on the couch with a lovely cup of tea and watch one of her dramas while waiting for Natsuki to finish her lessons so that she could phone the girl.

With her plan in mind she finished up in the shower and made quick work of getting dressed, picking up her previously discarded clothing as she went. The next point of call was the kitchen, for some morning tea.

When she reached the kitchen she made a bee line for a particular cupboard. But when she reached it she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as she spotted what looked like a bit of thin cardboard sticking out from inside the cupboard, held in place by the closed door. She pulled the cardboard out from its position and realised that it had once been part of a cereal packet, on the blank side there was a note. She smiled broadly as she recognised the messy handwriting,

'_Gone to my classes. I didn't want to wake you, I know that you like your sleep :p I'll call you later or something' _

Shizuru realised with a smile that Natsuki had picked this spot to stick her note because she knew what belonged in that cupboard. The Kyoto born had always found it a little difficult to start the day without a good cup of tea. What made her heart flutter and her stomach flip though were the messily written words at the end of the note,

'_I love you' _

They had quite obviously been written in haste and Shizuru was fairly certain that the blunette had added them as an afterthought. But them being there at all was more than she had been expecting. She felt her happiness return full force and a lump formed in her throat at the torrent of emotion pouring through her. She was sure that she would cry if she allowed herself to remain idle much longer and so, she laughed in to the silence of the apartment and started to prepare her tea.

She would have to thank Natsuki for her sweetness later.

* * *

><p>Natsuki felt her eyes sting as she made her way slowly back to her dorm room. She was so damn tired. Her eyelids seemed intent on closing despite the fact that she was still walking and she found herself yawning almost constantly. She picked up her pace a bit, realising that walking through campus looking like a zombie was a sure way to ruin her badass reputation. Kuga Natsuki would not be beaten by academics!<p>

It probably didn't help matters that she had stayed up so late the night before trying to complete her stupid English homework. At least she had got it done though and, much to her relief, she'd done an alright job on it apparently.

She yawned again while practically dragging herself up the stairs, her bag digging into her shoulder mercilessly with each step. Just a little further and she would be able to collapse on to her bed. Not that she could sleep mind; she had a whole new load of homework to finish, ready for tomorrow. She needed to lie down for a bit though; forcibly keeping her eyes open was giving her a headache.

She pushed the door open once she reached it and immediately kicked off her shoes and dumped her bag. She then quickly made her way over to her bed, ignoring Mai's smile as she fell on to the soft mattress face first with a groan. She could just about make out the sounds of gun fire and assumed that Mikoto was playing on her Xbox...ahh Xbox, how she missed it.

"Everything alright Natsuki?" Mai sounded rather amused and if Natsuki didn't feel like her eyes would fall out at the action she would have glared at the red head. She settled for groaning again, which Mai chuckled at, "Don't sleep now or you won't sleep later and you'll have this problem again tomorrow" The younger girl couldn't help but let her mothering instincts kick in,

"I'm not sleeping" Was her groggy reply,

"No, you're watching the insides of your eyelids...which will lead to you sleeping" The violet eyed girl presumed that Natsuki must have stayed up late with Shizuru, though she didn't let her mind go in to details about what 'staying up late' had entailed...she had spotted the suspicious looking red mark on the girl's neck...

"Just... give me a... minute" She could tell that the blunette was falling asleep and decided to take drastic action. She launched herself from her own bed and onto her friends, causing the biker to bounce off the mattress slightly at the impact it caused,

"Mai! What the hell!" Natsuki barked while sitting up and glaring at the younger girl, albeit a slightly toned down version of her usual Kuga death glare.

"You were falling asleep!" Mai defended with a smirk.

"Well why couldn't you just wake me up like a normal person?" Natsuki huffed before getting up off her bed and stretching, her muscles complaining at the action.

"Because that way was more fun" She beamed, earning herself an eye roll from her older friend.

"For you maybe" Natsuki grumbled in response before trudging back to her bag and pulling out her mountain of homework. She groaned at the weight of papers and quickly threw them on kitchen side. She then proceeded to get herself a glass of ice water, hoping that the cold liquid would wake her up somewhat. She rubbed the back of her neck and then strained it from side to side in an attempt to assuage the tension there.

She then rifled through the sheets of homework quickly and decided that she really wasn't in the mood to write an essay about the Meiji period. So, she pulled out her mobile with the intention of ringing Shizuru; she'd said that she would ring the older girl after all. She unconsciously tapped her foot against the kitchen floor while she waited for Shizuru pick up.

She heard the tone on the other end indicating that Shizuru was currently using her phone and hung up with a frown. She tried again...same result. Well, that option was out then. She'd have to try the older girl again later and in the meantime, she should probably make a start on her homework.

Just as she turned her attention back to the ridiculous amount of paper her mobile lit up and emitted a familiar tone. She picked the contraption up immediately and checked the caller ID before holding the device up to her ear,

"Shizuru?" She answered,

"_Who was Natsuki on the phone to just now? I had to wait to hear your lovely voice_" Natsuki was fairly certain that the older girl was pouting.

"Huh? I wasn... wait, were you just ringing me?" A smile started to form on the blunette's face as she figured out what had happened,

"_Yes, I phoned 3 times, only to find that the line was busy" _

"Were you ever going to give up, or were you just going to keep ringing?" Her amusement was evident in her voice,

"_I would have kept ringing of course. I wanted to hear Natsuki's sexy voice_" Blood instantly rushed to the biker's cheeks at Shizuru's words and she purposely turned to face the kitchen sink, her back to the living area of the apartment, thus hiding her blush from Mai and Mikoto.

"Shizuru why do you always have to say things like that? Can't you just answer the phone normally?" She knew that the Kyoto born would be able to hear the embarrassment in her voice and it made her cringe,

"_Because it is the truth"_ Shizuru said simply in an almost sing song voice. Natsuki could hear the amusement in the older girl's sentence and she quickly thought of something to say,

"Isn't it meant to be easier to lie than tell the truth?" The second she said this though she knew that Shizuru would use it to imply that she was accusing her of lying...

"_I do hope that Natsuki isn't insinuating that I am lying"_ Natsuki scowled as her assumption was proven correct,

"No, that's not what I said"

"_But Natsuki implied it"_ Shizuru was doing a very good job at keeping the amusement out of her voice as she said this but the younger girl knew that her girlfriend was teasing her,

"No, I didn't. And anyway, what you said is your opinion, not necessarily the truth" She knew that she was just digging herself a bigger hole here, but her brain usually didn't function properly when she was blushing...

"_Well, if I think that Natsuki's voice is sexy I am telling the truth as far as I'm concerned" _

"But...urgh, never mind, I'll never win against you" She sighed in defeat, but couldn't help but smile when she heard Shizuru giggle, "Anyway, you must have been phoning me while I was phoning you" She turned and leant back against the kitchen counter whilst checking her hair for split ends,

"_Ara! That must mean something, if we both thought to ring each other at the same time_" The joy in Shizuru's voice, coupled with what she was actually saying made Natsuki chuckle loudly,

"I think it just means that we both knew what time I finished my classes" She just knew that that comment would make the Kyoto born pout again "Stop pouting"

"_I'm not"_ Natsuki laughed; she could tell from the slightly sheepish sounding response that Shizuru had indeed been pouting.

"Anyway, um...What did you do today?" It still felt a little weird having conversations like this, and as such her question sounded slightly awkward, thankfully Shizuru didn't comment on it,

"_I finished my packing. The apartment looks so empty now"_ She said the last part a bit quieter, as if she was saying it more to herself than Natsuki _"I found your note"_ There was a playful tone in the older girl's voice and Natsuki felt her cheeks heat up,

"Oh...um... I thought it might be a good idea to leave one... I don't know why...I, uh..." She felt her blush worsen as she stammered. Why was she even explaining herself anyway? Shizuru hadn't asked for an explanation...which probably explained the older girl's chuckling,

"_It was very sweet of you Natsuki, thank you. I love you too"_ The younger girl could hear the sheer happiness in Shizuru's voice as she spoke and a smile split across her face even as her blush deepened. She could definitely get used to hearing Shizuru sound that way, and she quickly realised that all she had to do to make that a reality was continue to make the Kyoto born happy. She would certainly try her best to achieve that.

Before the silence stretched on any longer and made the conversation awkward Shizuru spoke up,

"_Will you be able to help me move my things on Friday?"_ Natsuki seriously wanted to do this. She wanted to help Shizuru of course, but more importantly she wanted to scope out the Kyoto born's flatmates. Unfortunately, she had her damnable extra classes,

"I've got lessons on Friday, sorry Shizuru" She made a conscious effort to keep the annoyance out of her voice and was pleased when her sentence sounded normal,

"_That shouldn't be a problem. I won't be moving until later on anyway since Reito-san is taking his things to the dorms before coming to help with mine" _Shizuru stated rather mater of factly, obviously having anticipated the blunette's response,

"Oh, then yeah, I'll help" Natsuki first felt relief sweep over her, followed by her annoyance disappearing, only to be replaced with slight anxiety. She attributed it to the thought of meeting Shizuru's flatmates but tried to push it out of her mind, not wanting to fret over it at the moment. Shizuru sounded so incredibly happy right now that she didn't think she should even be considering worrying about the older girl's soon to be flatmates.

"_Ookini"_ Natsuki smiled at Shizuru's thanks, the older girl's happiness seemed to amplify her Kyoto-ben, and that was never a bad thing. She had always liked hearing the older girl's dialect, well, once she'd started to understand what the girl was saying anyway _"How was Natsuki's day? You weren't late to your classes were you?" _Shizuru's question pulled her out of her thoughts and she sighed as she recalled her rush to get to the school that morning,

"No, I got there just in time. And my day was boring, annoying, long and boring" Shizuru chuckled lightly,

"_It must have been boring if Natsuki felt the need to mention it twice" _

"Well, Japanese History is so boring that saying so one hundred times wouldn't be enough" She replied, quite seriously too. Shizuru laughed again,

"_Well, maybe it won't be so boring when Sugiura-sensei gets back_" Her girlfriend offered and Natsuki couldn't help but chuckle a bit,

"Yeah, no doubt she'll tell us all about her crazy adventure with that professor of hers and somehow make it sound educational" Shizuru had never been taught by the overly cheerful and forever young red headed teacher, but her teaching methods were well known throughout the school despite her only teaching there for a short period of time.

"_I imagine she will add some sort of drama to her lectures too"_ Natsuki made a sound of amused agreement and then sighed as she glanced at the clock above the fridge,

"Anyway, I better get on with my homework" She chewed her lip lightly and closed her eyes before speaking up again, "I'm going to be pretty busy with my work tomorrow since I need to study for the exams next week as well as do my homework, but I'll phone you?" She really wanted to spend more time with the chestnut haired girl, especially now that the older girl was so happy. But, she had to concentrate on her studies.

"_Alright, let me know if you need any help?" _Natsuki made another sound of agreement _"I'll speak to you tomorrow then. I love you"_ Natsuki could practically hear the smile on Shizuru's face and it made her heart swell. Her cheeks flushed in anticipation of her own words,

"Yeah, I love you too" The words still felt somewhat foreign on her tongue and they came out sounding a little awkward, but she could live with it, even if her blush worsened slightly. She knew that Shizuru would appreciate her saying them at all. She ended the call and then lifted her head to find Mai looking at her with a very smug grin on her face, she scowled,

"Not a word Tokiha" Mai laughed merrily at her friends obvious embarrassment but said nothing, leaving Natsuki to tackle her homework.

* * *

><p>The next day passed by quickly enough and before they knew it Friday had arrived.<p>

"Why is she not doing any of this?" Natsuki grumbled under her breath as she repositioned her hold on the TV, preventing it from slipping out of her hands while she helped carry it down the stairwell of Shizuru's apartment building. The person holding the other end of the TV was none other than Kanzaki Reito. The TV wasn't really that big or heavy and one of them should have been able to carry it by themselves, but Shizuru had insisted that they do it between them to decrease the risk of it being dropped or damaged.

The older girl had said something about double checking the apartment for anything she had forgotten to pack, though the blunette had a sneaking suspicion that the Kyoto born just didn't want to do any of the heavy lifting, which explained why she and Reito were the ones moving the flat screen.

The tall boy didn't seem to struggling with the appliance as much as the biker, but Natsuki figured that it was probably because he wasn't the one walking backwards down a set of stairs. She growled when the TV jerked towards her and almost sent her tumbling backwards,

"Ah, sorry Kuga-san" She could clearly hear the amusement in his voice and her eyebrow twitched in response to it. She really wished that she didn't have to spend any time in the so called 'charming' boy's presence. Not that she hated him or anything like that but... he just got on her nerves a lot. What with all his manners and flirting and 'charm' and the way he said 'now, now' so much and drank tea all the time...

Although...wasn't Shizuru technically like that too? The more she thought about it the more she realised just how similar the two were. It wasn't that shocking really, after all everyone at school thought them to be an item, something she personally hadn't given much thought to before. And she certainly wasn't going to start now. There were more pressing issues to deal with, such as Shizuru's stupid TV slipping out of her hands again.

When they eventually made it to Reito's car Natsuki had to fight the urge to just drop the damnable appliance on to the concrete. That would have been completely pointless though, since she'd just struggled to bring the thing all the way down to the car park. So, instead of dropping it, she helped the ex-vice president slide on to the back seat of the car.

She sighed in relief and turned to make her way back in to the building to grab the remaining boxes from Shizuru's apartment...only to be stopped by a hand on her shoulder. Her eyebrow twitched again and she had to forcibly stop herself from ripping the offending hand off its owners arm as she turned around.

"Kuga-san, could I speak to you for a moment?" Natsuki was once again reminded of Reito and Shizuru's similarities in the way he asked this question. Though it sounded very much like he was _asking_, he was not. His eyes left absolutely no room for her to refuse. Damn.

"What?" She asked tersely, shrugging his hand off her shoulder. She crossed her arms over her chest and gave him an impatient look,

"It's about Shizuru-san" Ok, so now he had her undivided attention. She also idly wondered why Reito and Shizuru insisted on using honorific's when referring to each other, since it was blatantly obvious that they were pretty good friends.

"What about her?" Her word choice made it sound like she didn't care what he had to say but they both knew that this was not the case. Reito's expression turned oddly serious and Natsuki wondered if she should be worried...

"Do you love her?" The biker felt her cheeks flush madly at the very direct question, and apparently the rush of blood made her brain short circuit, causing her to stand there, red as a tomato, gaping at the dark haired male. When she recovered enough control over her motor functions she spoke,

"W-what?" Her voice was embarrassingly high pitched and she was sure that her hair would go up in flames if it touched her cheeks. Fortunately, Reito didn't laugh at her evident discomfort; actually his intense stare seemed to soften slightly, though the serious tone in his voice remained as he repeated his question,

"Do you love her?" Natsuki closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She'd admitted that she loved Shizuru to herself and the older girl but...apparently she still wasn't all that comfortable letting other people know. Mai knew since she had overheard her phone conversation with Shizuru the other day but...being asked outright like this threw her completely off balance and she was struggling to regain her composure.

Why was he asking this anyway? Surely Shizuru's love life wasn't any of his business. And _her _love life certainly wasn't anything to do with him! But, he was obviously asking for a reason...

The silence dragged out between them and pressed down on the poor blunette as Reito did not feel the need to break it. With another deep breath she opened her eyes and looked at the boy before her. She gave him a stiff nod and hoped that it would be enough to answer his question, since her voice was currently MIA.

He seemed to study her face for a moment before relaxing his expression back to its usual calm and polite state, with the addition of a smile. It was not his 'charming' or 'flirting' smile, much to Natsuki's relief, but a genuinely happy smile,

"I'm glad. I don't think I've ever seen Shizuru look as happy as she does right now, and I trust that you will try to keep it that way?" Still trying to recover from her furious blush, it took a moment for Natsuki to process his words. The first thing she noted was his lack of honorific when he said Shizuru's name and she instantly understood why he was having this conversation with her.

He was being a friend. He was just making sure that she was serious about being with Shizuru, because he didn't want to see his friend get hurt. She suddenly saw the dark haired boy in a whole new light and smiled at him slightly,

"I'm not planning to fuck this up if that's what you mean" Eloquent as always. Reito chuckled, clearly not put off by her word choice.

"Good to hear. Now, I do believe that we have an apartment to finish emptying" He reminded and started walking back towards the apartment building, "Oh, and by the way Kuga-san?" He glanced over his shoulder to see the blue haired girl following behind him, she made a small sound of acknowledgement and he smirked "I can see why Shizuru-san enjoys teasing you so much, those blushes of yours are rather endearing "

"Shut the hell up Kanzaki!" The blunette stormed past him and he couldn't help but chuckle. At least she hadn't tried to punch him.

* * *

><p>Shizuru stood in the middle of her apartment, scanning the living room with a mixture of fondness and sadness. The majority of the boxes had now been removed and only the few that would be accompanying her to her new apartment remained, the rest had been picked up the day before and would probably been on their way to Kyoto by now. Her TV was also gone and was probably being placed in to Reito's car while she stood there, with much care she hoped since it certainly hadn't been cheap.<p>

The apartment held a lot of memories for her and it was strange to think that she wouldn't be living there anymore. Not all of her memories were good ones; she'd spent many moments feeling suffocated by the silence of the apartment, especially during the Carnival when her stress levels had been through the roof.

However, she decided to focus on the happy memories the place held, like the times she and Reito had spent hours talking about random and often amusing topics. She remembered prying information out of the dark haired boy about Mai, in her own subtle way of course. It had been an amusing reversal of roles for them and she smiled slightly.

She also had a lot of memories involving Natsuki and the apartment, the best being those that were the most recent. The last couple of weeks had provided her with some rather happy memories and she closed her eyes for a moment to savour the pleasant swirl of emotions recalling them provided.

She was brought out of her reminiscing by the sound of footsteps nearing her open front door, which Reito and Natsuki soon walked through. Natsuki looked a little annoyed while Reito looked mildly amused and she wondered what had happened for them to look that way. She decided not to ask though since she really just wanted to get on with things and get to her new apartment.

She was certainly feeling a moderate amount of anxiety now that the move was actually happening, not that she let it show. Thankfully, as she had hoped, Natsuki's presence was doing wonders for her nerves and just the sight of her girlfriend made her smile fondly.

Reito stacked two of the cardboard boxes on top of each other and promptly carried them out of the room to his car. Natsuki was more sensible and took one box, knowing that the chances of her falling down the stairs would be pretty high if she tried to follow Reito's example. Shizuru also grabbed a box and exited the apartment with Natsuki, who smirked at her,

"Oh, helping now are we?" Shizuru chuckled,

"I thought that Natsuki might like to spend some time with Reito-san" Natsuki snorted at her comment,

"Riiight, because me and Mr 'I'm so charming' get on so well and all"

"Well, perhaps if you spent more time together you would learn to enjoy each other's company" This was completely implausible and she knew it, but still, it would be nice to have her girlfriend and friend get on a little better. Honestly, she couldn't remember a time when Natsuki had been in the boy's presence and not glared at or completely ignored him.

"I doubt it. And, we both know that really, you just didn't want to do any of the hard work"

"I thought that Natsuki would salvage the opportunity to prove how strong she is, and she certainly did a good job"

"Flattery will get you nowhere Fujino. You're going to help carry things when we get to your new apartment" Natsuki chuckled as they left the apartment building and headed for Reito's car,

"Natsuki ikezu" The Kyoto born pouted, both at the use of her last name and the younger girl's comment. She wasn't averse to carrying her things really, but she was not particularly fond of the idea either. Lugging a heavy box or a TV up or down stairs was not a very graceful thing to be seen doing, especially since she was not really an active person and as such, would probably be embarrassingly out of breath if she had to trek up and down stairs as many times as her two helpers had.

They quickly handed the boxes to Reito, who packed them in to the car before returning up the stairs.

The three of them made a couple more trips to Shizuru's apartment to retrieve the remaining boxes and pretty soon everything was in the car and ready to go. All that was left was for Shizuru to lock the door and then they would be on their way.

With one last glance around what had been her home for the past year Shizuru closed and locked the door. It was incredibly strange, walking down the stairs and leaving the complex, probably for the last time ever. Like the end of an era, which it was really she supposed. She was no longer a high school student, but a university student, well on her way to adulthood. The thought was somewhat scary.

* * *

><p>Natsuki brought her bike to a stop outside the large building that would be her girlfriend's place of residence from now on. Her nerves had returned and her thoughts raced. She was about to meet Shizuru's flatmates and she was seriously praying that they would not be anything like she was dreading.<p>

As she hopped off her bike and secured it she tried to calm her raging mind. _'They won't be anything like you're thinking. Calm down, they'll probably just be average girls... hopefully with boyfriends...and they __**won't **__be gay...And even if they were, it wouldn't matter. Shizuru loves me. Nothing to worry about...'_

"Kuga-san!" She turned her head at the sound of a familiar voice yelling her name and saw Reito waving at her form his car. She quickly made her way over and they began the task of emptying the vehicle. They unanimously decided that the TV should be the first thing they moved, since they didn't really want to leave it in the car unattended. So, like before, Natsuki and Reito grabbed the appliance while Shizuru took a box.

"Where are we going?" Natsuki frowned while looking around herself. There was a small archway just to their right, leading between the two buildings they were stood in front of and it seemed like the only logical place for them to go, since to their left was a busy road. Shizuru confirmed this by walking in that direction, leaving the other two to follow behind her.

They turned right after making their way through the archway and Natsuki noticed that there were a few other people carrying boxes and such like, obviously moving in to a new apartment themselves. She scrutinised them all, wondering if any of them would be posing a threat in the near future.

She was pulled out of her eyeing of other students when the TV was almost wrenched out of her hands,

"Oi!" She barked, and received a chuckled apology from Reito, which irritated her to no end. Apparently in her nervous state she was also very irritable, which did not bode well for the dark haired boy if he continued to annoy her.

They reached a large door and Shizuru proceed through it without stopping, leaving Reito and Natsuki to catch up. The door lead straight on to a set of stairs, though to the right was another door which seemed to lead to some sort of common room. A few students were mulling around the area while others were walking up/down the stairs.

Feeling slightly smug that she wasn't the one walking backwards this time, Natsuki started making her way up the stairs, pushing the TV into Reito from time to time just for the heck of it. Once they had reached the top of that set of stairs they were immediately led on to another, much to the blunette's frustration. After a couple more sets her thighs started to complain,

"Are nearly at your floor yet?" She was sure that Shizuru would chuckle at the annoyance in her voice but apparently the ex-Kaichou was also finding the exercise tough going and therefore just said,

"The next one" The biker scowled, she was tired already and they still had go back and get the remaining boxes from the car, which meant repeating this trek a least a couple more times. The building hadn't even looked that tall from outside. When they _finally _reached Shizuru's floor the chestnut haired girl lead them through a door and down a corridor. The hallway held several doors, most of which were open, and they could hear people introducing themselves within the various apartments. Shizuru stopped outside one of the doors, which was open, and checked the number,

"This is it" The three of them walked through the doorway, though Reito and Natsuki didn't get far before they were forced to stop least they walk straight in to Shizuru, who was putting the box in her hands on the floor. The Kyoto born then dug around in her jeans pocket and pulled out a set of keys.

The doorway lead on to another corridor of sorts. Straight in front of them there was a row of 3 doors, which Natsuki assumed would be the bedrooms. Glancing down the corridor let her know that it lead to the kitchen/living space of the apartment and she assumed that there would be a door leading to a bathroom somewhere. Her overall assessment so far was that the apartment contained _a lot _of doors.

So far though, there didn't seem to be any one else in the apartment. Natsuki felt a strange mix of relief and further anxiousness at the realisation that she wouldn't be meeting Shizuru's flatmates just yet.

Shizuru didn't pay much attention to the rest of the apartment for the time being and instead moved to the middle door in front of them, opened it with her key and pushed it open to reveal her new bedroom.

It was relatively small compared to her old room, but it would do. To her right there was a long desk made of some light coloured wood, which seemed to be bolted to the wall, and a semi-comfy looking chair was tucked away underneath it. Above the desk there was a shelving unit and on the left of the room there was a small wardrobe and a chest of draws.

The room contained a single bed, which was going to take some getting used to since Shizuru was used to sleeping in a double. It was right up against the far wall and lay underneath a decently sized window that overlooked the street where Natsuki's bike and Reito's car were parked.

Shizuru picked up the box she had placed on the floor and moved further in to the room, allowing Natsuki and Reito to enter behind her and place the TV on the desk. Natsuki glanced around,

"It's actually not too bad" She voiced her thoughts, prompting Shizuru to give her an amused look,

"Was Natsuki expecting it to be terrible?" The blunette shrugged,

"Well, the stairwell wasn't exactly promising" Reito chuckled at her comment, nodding slightly in agreement,

"It could certainly use a lick of paint. But, your room looks nice enough Shizuru-san, even if it is a downgrade from the Kaichou's apartment. And at least you don't have to share your bedroom with someone else like I do" He smirked and then stretched his arms above his head, "Alright, how about you stay and unpack your things while we get the rest of the boxes? You don't mind right, Kuga-san?" He gave her his horribly charming smile and Natsuki fought the urge to punch it off his face...she really needed to relax.

She sighed as Shizuru looked at her expectantly and then nodded. So much for making Shizuru carry things when they got to this end.

* * *

><p>By the time they had carried everything to Shizuru's room Natsuki had developed a serious hatred of stairs. Why the hell did Shizuru have to live on the top floor!<p>

The blunette was currently sprawled out on the older girl's freshly made bed, her left arm draped over her eyes. She'd only just stopped grumbling about the evils of stairs and Shizuru had to giggle at her girlfriends complaints. Although, she had to admit that those stairs could very well be the death of her...either that or she would be incredibly fit by the end of the year.

The Kyoto born was currently unpacking her clothes, hanging them in her wardrobe or folding them and placing them in the set of draws. She had already unpacked the books she'd brought with her and placed them on one of the shelves above her desk. She had also placed her lamp on the end of the desk, next to the bed, although it was currently turned off since they had the bedroom light on to replace the natural light that was slowly fading from outside.

When she came across her school uniform she quickly glanced at Natsuki, to make sure that the younger girl wasn't looking, before hurriedly throwing it into the nearest draw. She may be the queen of teases but she knew that Natsuki would find a way to tease her about keeping the uniform. Once the box was empty she flattened it and threw it to join the others by the door.

As she started to empty the next box she wondered why she hadn't seen any of her flatmates. Some random guy had walked in earlier, introduced himself and then quickly left due to the Kuga death glare he'd received. But her flatmates were strangely absent.

She presumed that they would be out meeting the other occupants of their floor and she idly wondered if she should be doing that herself, rather than getting all her things unpacked. She wasn't worried about the whole introduction thing, she was used to having to do that after all, she just didn't really feel the need to fake interest in the other people living on her floor. Perhaps she would do it another time.

She did, however, want to meet her flatmates. She felt a little uncomfortable in her new surroundings, though she didn't let it show, and she figured that she would be able to relax a bit more once she knew who she was going to be living with. Natsuki's presence was still helping a lot but she really needed to know what her flatmates were like.

Unbeknownst to her, Natsuki's thoughts were also running along a similar vein. The blunette, who still had her arm covering her eyes, had calmed down from her previous state of irritation, possibly due to the fact that Reito had left once the last box had been placed in Shizuru's room. But, her mind was still focused on the faceless and nameless flatmates.

She just wanted to meet them and get it over with in all honesty. She was trying to push her negative thoughts out of her mind in favour of thinking positive. Unfortunately, as somebody that had a tendency to over think everything, this was not easy. She knew that she should really be hoping that Shizuru _did _like her new flatmates.

She just couldn't shake the negative connotations her mind attached to thoughts of Shizuru 'liking' her flatmates though. Even if _they_ weren't interested in girls, _Shizuru_ most certainly was, and as such she could quite possibly fall for one of them if she spent enough time around them.

After all, wasn't that exactly what had happened between her and Shizuru? The Kyoto born had just been her friend to start with, and although she didn't know when those feelings had changed, the older girl had fallen for her at some point.

It wasn't that she didn't trust Shizuru, but she knew that the older girl would not be able to stop herself from falling for someone else. After all, Natsuki herself hadn't been able to choose whether she loved Shizuru or not, so she knew that people didn't have a choice in the matter.

She sighed and lifted her arm off her face, squinting against the sudden brightness that invaded her eyes. They soon adjusted to the light though and she stared up at the ceiling, something that she always found herself doing when her thoughts were troubling her.

She tried to call Mai's words from the week before to the front of her mind; the red head had managed to quell her fears for a little while so she hoped that remembering those words would calm her thoughts somewhat. Mai had said that she had nothing to worry about and that it was way too early in their relationship to be having such thoughts. She knew that this was true, which was why she had been fighting the urge to voice her concerns to Shizuru.

Plus, she knew that the older girl was most likely still struggling with insecurities of her own, despite their conversation two days ago. The Kyoto born had been hoping for them to be together for so long that her having such insecurities were inevitable. Especially since the biker wasn't exactly known for being interested in other people at all, never mind being in a romantic relationship.

When she compared her fears to Shizuru's, she couldn't help but feel that hers were somewhat unfounded. Shizuru had never done anything to make her feel insecure and she certainly had no grounds to question the older girl's love or devotion. The reality of it was that Natsuki needed to prove herself to the Kyoto born. She needed to show the older girl that she trusted and loved her.

So, she wasn't going to mention her worries to Shizuru. She _did_ want her girlfriend to enjoy her time at university, and she _did_ want the girl to make friends and have fun. She would trust Shizuru, and not make an ass out of herself.

She lifted her head slightly to see what the chestnut haired girl was doing. Shizuru was currently placing what looked like a slightly battered shoebox in to the bottom of her wardrobe. The blunette smiled at this, if she had to guess what was in that box she would say that it was filled with sentimental bits and bobs. She'd had something similar before Nao had destroyed her apartment. She had managed to salvage a few things, a couple of photographs and her mother's wedding ring included. She hadn't really had the time to properly scour through the debris of the place to see what had survived; she still planned to do that at some point. And get the place repaired when she had the money.

She watched as Shizuru stated to place other random objects about the room, making it look like somebody actually lived there and making Natsuki smile as familiar items were dotted about. She couldn't help but admire her girlfriend's beauty as she moved around, and while this usually sent her into a trance and led to an embarrassing situation when she got caught staring, this time she found herself frowning and turned her attention back to the off white coloured ceiling.

There were no two ways about it; Shizuru was gorgeous. She had no doubt that the other people staying on this floor, not to mention the rest of the building, would notice this the second they laid eyes on the Kyoto born. It was a troubling thought to say the least. Natsuki had seen a fair amount of guys on her way to and from Reito's car earlier and she hadn't liked the way they had looked at _her_, never mind how she knew they would look at Shizuru.

Needles to say, Natsuki was sure that if Shizuru ever had an _itch, _there would be a queue of people willing to _help her out._ Which certainly wasn't a pleasant thought. She shook her head in an attempt to rid herself of such thoughts. Hadn't she just said that she would trust Shizuru? And anyway, if Shizuru had an _itch_...wouldn't she come to Natsuki?

The very thought of this brought a blush to her cheeks and she sighed, this was pointless. She should just say something right? Let the older girl know that she was feeling this way...but, she didn't want to sound like a jealous, possessive jack-ass that didn't want her girlfriend to have friends and actually get on with the people she lived with.

"Natsuki?" Shizuru's voice made her look up again, to see her girlfriend giving her a slightly concerned look, "Are you alright? You're glaring at the ceiling as if it has done something horrible to you" There was a hint of amusement in the girls voice but Natsuki knew that this was just meant to make her feel better. Strangely, it kind of worked...or maybe it was the emotion she saw in the girl's eyes that did it.

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine...just..." She sat up and gave the older girl a slight smirk, "Promise me you won't leave me for some smart and exciting girl?" She made sure that her tone was light and slightly amused. She just wanted to see how Shizuru would react to the question, even if the older girl thought that she was only asking in a jokey way. Shizuru chuckled,

"Of course not, Natsuki is the only one for me" The Kyoto born thought that the question was more than a bit odd coming from Natsuki, but she couldn't see any hints of serious concern or anxiety in the younger girl's eyes. She didn't understand why Natsuki would ask such a question if it wasn't something that was really bothering her, but she had answered honestly anyway, just in case.

Natsuki stood up and stretched, feeling somewhat better after receiving Shizuru answer. Despite the light-hearted way it had been said she could tell that the Kyoto born was being sincere. Shizuru smiled at her and then turned as if to walk out of the room,

"I'm going to see what the rest of the apartment is like" She informed the blunette who said nothing, but followed behind the older girl with a slight shrug. They turned right after leaving Shizuru's room and headed down the short corridor, passing the bathroom which was on the left, before coming to the kitchen/living space.

The kitchen was on the left and consisted of a long counter that stretched the length of the room, a sink and an oven were incorporated into it and cupboards filled the space beneath. A microwave sat on the end of the counter and a fridge stood against the far wall. There were also cupboards above the kitchen surface and a quick inspection revealed that somebody had already claimed one lot of shelves for their food supplies.

The living space was on the right and was not separated from the kitchen area at all. It was really just a mass of space, filled only by a couple of dull brown coloured couches and what looked like a broken table in the corner. At least the couches looked more comfortable than Shizuru's old one had. While Shizuru busied herself by opening and closing various cupboards and the fridge, Natsuki glanced around the room, it looked like it had been recently painted and the carpet looked clean so all in all it wasn't too bad...broken table notwithstanding. Her eyes then fell on the large window on the far right wall, to the right of the couches and opposite the kitchen.

She made her way over to it and looked out in to the city, it wasn't the best view to be sure, but it wasn't bad. Fuuka wasn't exactly a massive town and there was still a lot of natural scenery about the place. From the window she could faintly see a mountain in the distance and she knew that if the tall buildings a few blocks away weren't there she would've been able to see the ocean. She placed her hands on the bottom of the window frame and pushed it upwards, opening the window and allowing the slight breeze to carry some fresh air in to the apartment.

Shizuru appeared beside her before too long and they both leant on the window ledge, a comfortable silence surrounding them as they peered out in to the city. The sun had already dipped below the horizon and the sky was bluish-gray as stars started to become visible. Natsuki knew that she would have to leave soon, she still had homework to do after all and her teachers had given her extra work to do over the weekend. Which she thought was entirely unfair.

But for now, she wanted to just enjoy being with Shizuru. She subtly moved a little closer to the Kyoto born so that their arms were just barely touching and smiled to herself. The vehicles driving by on the street below and the slight breeze were the only sounds that met their ears and it provided a rather peaceful atmosphere.

The air was cooler in this part of Fuuka due to the nearby ocean and Natsuki felt goose bumps rise in a wave across her forearm in response to a slightly stronger breeze as it blew by. Or perhaps it was due to the proximity of Shizuru's body to her own. She turned her head slightly to look at the older girl and noted the soft smile that played across her lips, the way her hair moved gently with the breeze and the twinkle in her eyes created by the city lights.

The wind picked up a few strands of chestnut hair and Natsuki watched as delicate fingers came up to brush the strands back to their original place. Shizuru's hand remained there, holding her hair out of her face as she turned her head to smile warmly at the blunette, her crimson eyes shining with affection.

Natsuki's breath caught in her throat and her heart fluttered in her chest. She'd already acknowledged that Shizuru was beautiful, but right now, she couldn't think of an adequate word to describe the older girl. She unconsciously inched her face forward, her eyes never leaving those deep pools of crimson.

"Ara, I appear to have two _very_ pretty girls in my apartment, how lucky!" The atmosphere was abruptly shattered and both girls turned around instantly at the voice. They spotted its owner a few paces away from them, a smirk on her face. The girl was tall, with short brownish hair and unusual bangs that only seemed to fall where her eyes were. Violet eyes, that were currently looking at them with amusement, "Oh, and pretty faces too!"

Both Shizuru and Natsuki were a little unsure how to respond to this. Natsuki was seriously fighting to keep a blush from spreading across her face but she did not avert her eyes from the mystery girl. This must be Shizuru's flat mate, and she already didn't like her. Shizuru quickly recovered from the girl's sudden appearance and smiled politely.

"So, which one of you two hotties is my new flatmate? Or are you both staying here?" The violet eyed girl questioned while shamelessly eyeing them both. Neither girl was particularly happy about having the newcomer call their girlfriend a 'hottie', not to mention the way she was looking at them and the fact that she'd just interrupted a rather nice moment.

"That would be me" Shizuru spoke up, her mask firmly in place and a pleasant smile hiding her displeasure,

"I can live with that" The tall girl winked at Shizuru, causing Natsuki to scowl, "Well, I'm Anh Lu, but you can call me whatever you like" The girl, Anh, said flirtatiously, which proved to irritate Natsuki further. Shizuru wasn't sure what to make of the brunette stood before her, but she could practically feel the tension radiating off her girlfriend,

"Fujino Shizuru, you can call me Fujino-san" She spoke politely but there was an undercurrent to her voice that clearly stated that she wanted Anh to back off. Much to her confusion Anh laughed,

"Ooh, I think I like you already!" The brunette walked to one of the couches in the room and plopped down on to it before switching her gaze from Shizuru to Natsuki and trailing her eyes across her body unabashedly, "This your girl then?" The mischievous glint in those violet eyes made both girls feel uncomfortable.

This was Natsuki's worst nightmare. Not only was this girl quite clearly interested in keeping female company, but she was a damnable flirt and was practically exuding confidence. And when she took a proper look at the brunette she realised that she was not a _girl _at all, but a woman; probably a year or two older than Shizuru if she had to guess. And on top of that Anh certainly wasn't ugly.

Great. Shizuru's flatmate was a flirtatious, confident, pretty, probably experienced lesbian. The only comfort she could take form the situation was that Shizuru clearly wasn't impressed.

In actuality Shizuru was starting to feel a bit possessive. Nobody was allowed to look at Natsuki like that except her! And to do it when she was standing right there, the audacity of this woman! Her instinctual response was to confirm Anh's assumption, but she wasn't sure if she should or not. Natsuki had specifically asked her not to 'out' them, so to speak, so what was she meant to do in this situation? She sure as hell wasn't going to let the brunette think that Natsuki was single!

"Yeah, that a problem?" Much to the Kyoto born's surprise, Natsuki spoke up, her voice curt and hostile. Annoyingly, Anh chuckled,

"Ooh, feisty" She then sighed "It's a problem for me yes. It means that there's two less sexy girls for me to chase" Natsuki was feeling too threatened to blush at the remark and Shizuru was trying too hard to control her possessive nature to comment "Although, I suppose I could still chase right?" Anh wiggled her eyebrows suggestively and Natsuki glared at her while suppressing a growl. She was going to punch this woman in the face fairly soon if she didn't stop with the totally inappropriate insinuations.

In response to her girlfriends quite obvious distress Shizuru stepped closer to her, hoping that her now closer proximity would calm the biker. Anh flicked her eyes between the two and took in their intense gazes before holding her hands up in mock surrender,

"Alright, alright, down tiger" She laughed as her eyes met fierce emeralds, "Don't worry, I won't make a move on your woman..." She paused and wondered if it would be a bad idea to say something else, she was quite aware that her personality was likely to get her in to some serious trouble one of these days, "Unless she wants me to of course" In the end she couldn't help herself and winked at Shizuru, whose crimson eyes grew more intense at her words,

"No, I do not want you to. Now, if you don't mind I have to finish unpacking" Her polite tone had slipped somewhat but nobody would have called her response rude. Without pausing after her sentence Shizuru grabbed Natsuki's hand and hastily pulled her out of the room and towards her bedroom, ignoring Anh's amused shout of,

"Ah, Fujino-san, you break my heart!"

Once they reached her room she closed the door and glanced tentatively at Natsuki, who was staring back at her, a myriad of powerful emotions swirling in her deep emerald eyes. She tried to think of something to say to reassure the younger girl, but she was still trying to make sense of what had just happened herself.

Her flat mate was certainly not the type of person she had been expecting. She hadn't ever met somebody quite so forward and carefree before, and the fact that Anh had quite obviously checked them both out had thrown her completely. She certainly wouldn't want to leave Natsuki with Anh and she had the comfort of knowing that that wasn't going to happen. Natsuki however, did not have that reassurance.

She wished that Natsuki would say something instead of just staring at her. The silence surrounding them was pressing down on her and making her uncomfortable. She continued trying to think of something to say while leaning against the door behind her. In the end she gave up and decided that she would have to comfort the biker another way until her brain provided her with something.

She moved forward and wrapped her arms around the girl, pulling their bodies together and resting her head on Natsuki's shoulder. She only relaxed when she felt strong arms circle her waist and squeeze slightly, holding her in place.

Shizuru rubbed the blunette's back gently, trying to sooth the tension she could feel there. In fact, Natsuki entire body seemed to be rigid and her brow creased in worry. She realised than that the girl's earlier question, about not leaving her for someone exciting/intelligent, may not have been so light-hearted after all. For Natsuki to be reacting so strongly to Anh, she must have been worrying about her flatmates before the brunette's appearance.

"Natsuki?" Finally she found her voice and pulled out of the embrace slightly so she could look at the younger girl. Natsuki looked like her normal self for the most part, but her eyes gave her away. Shizuru could see the worry in those green eyes, as well a surprising amount of anger, "Are you alright?" It was a silly question really considering the emotions she could clearly see in the girl's eyes. She was stunned to see those very emotions almost instantly disappear, for the most part anyway, as Natsuki stepped out of their embrace,

"Yeah, I'm fine" Shizuru raised an eyebrow at the biker...since when had Natsuki gotten so good at hiding her emotions like that? She suddenly realised how horrible it was to be on the receiving end of an emotional mask. Did Natsuki feel like she was being lied to every time the Kyoto born pulled her mask up to hide how she was really feeling? Because that was certainly how she felt in that moment.

"Natsuki is lying" She spoke softly, not wanting to upset the girl or possibly aggravate her temper. Natsuki studied her face for a moment, obviously trying to decipher what she was feeling, and Shizuru suddenly realised that she was also hiding how she felt, and probably for the same reason that Natsuki was. She didn't want to make Natsuki worry.

"Are _you_ alright?" The younger girl asked, completely ignoring Shizuru's statement. Shizuru's response to this was to tug on Natsuki jacket, wanting to wrap her arms around the girl again, and thankfully, she relented. Once her arms were secured around Natsuki's waist she spoke quietly,

"I don't like it when people look at my Natsuki like that" She figured that honesty was probably the best policy if she wanted to reassure her girlfriend and it seemed to do the trick as she felt the girl relax slightly in her arms "You don't have to worry about anything happening between me and Lu-san, I said before that Natsuki is the only one for me did I not?" She spoke soothingly and heard as well as felt Natsuki's sigh against her neck,

"Yeah. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to let it get to me so much...it's just that... I..." Shizuru understood what the girl was trying to say, even if she couldn't quite get the words out at the moment,

"I know. And I love you too, so you don't need to worry, okay?" She could feel the tense atmosphere slowly starting to dissipate and couldn't help but release a sigh of relief. Natsuki placed a light kiss on the smooth skin of Shizuru's neck before moving back slightly to smile at the older girl. The love she saw in those crimson eyes made her feel slightly better, but she could still see worry and concern there too.

Without hesitating she closed her eyes and pressed her lips against Shizuru's softly. Almost immediately she felt the older girl respond to the kiss and the arms around her waist tighten their hold. Their lips moved slowly in the tender kiss and both girls felt themselves getting lost in the others taste.

They hadn't really kissed like this too much, but it still felt natural and it was far from unpleasant. The kisses they had shared before had mostly left them breathless and hot, but this one seemed to have more of a calming effect. After a minute or so they pulled apart, both smiling softly, their previous concerns now feeling less important.

Shizuru brought her hand up to stroke through cobalt locks and she placed a light kiss on Natsuki's slightly flushed cheek before returning to their embrace and resting her head on the slightly shorter girls shoulder. Then, much to her surprise, Natsuki chuckled lightly. Instead of questioning the girl she waited for her to explain, which she did moments later,

"I think you might want to warn your flatmate that I may get violent if she tries anything with you" The blunette was being 100 percent honest here, but she was also trying to lighten the mood. Now that she had calmed down she could see that her reaction had been somewhat over the top... but it was like having all her negative thoughts become a reality. She didn't want to leave the apartment with Shizuru worrying about it though. The older girl chuckled softly in her ear,

"I am sure that she won't try anything" Looking back on the situation now, Shizuru could easily see that Anh had just been playing around; it hadn't been a serious attempt to make either of them feel threatened and it was probably just how she normally acted.

Natsuki pulled away from her and she was relieved to see a small smile on the girls face,

"I'd better get going, I've got loads of homework to do" She could tell that Natsuki was not completely ok with the situation but she was certainly feeling better than she had been before.

"Do you want me to walk down with you?" She was willing to tackle those stairs if Natsuki said yes, even though the thought of it was not all that appealing. The biker shook her head,

"I'm good. Speak to you tomorrow?" It was almost strange to see Natsuki acting so normally after how wound up she'd been just minutes ago. She wasn't going to complain though, instead she nodded at the younger girl's question and leaned forward for a quick kiss. She was pleased to see a light blush on the girl's cheeks when she pulled away.

With another smile, Natsuki turned and left the room, leaving the door slightly ajar. Shizuru heard another door being opened and closed as the biker left the apartment and she moved to her bed, kneeling on the mattress so she could look out of the window. She waited there for 5 minutes and smiled when heard the familiar sound of a bike engine starting up, shortly followed by the machine taking off down the road.

Once the bike was out of sight, she turned and sat on her bed, her eyes focused on her bedroom door. She couldn't stay in here all night. She had to at least try and get on with Anh...and, she had yet to meet her other flatmate. Still, things could have been worse, right?

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><p><strong>AN:<strong> Just a quick note about Anh - I've only seen Mai Otome twice, maybe three times, and that was quite some time ago... I don't even remember Anh being in it aha So basically, I'm just using her name/appearance here since I couldn't think of anyone else to use. So, I'm sorry for completely butchering her character ¬.¬;

So, finally Shizuru has moved to university! And things are already less than perfect :p I haven't really proof read this chapter properly, but my head hurts and I'm too lazy...maybe I'll have a read through it tomorrow or something...

Thanks for reading, feel free to review, and let me know if you spotted any mistakes etc :) Till next time,

~IlliterateKoi~


	12. Nothing to Worry About?

**Disclaimer: **Don't own.

**AN:**O_O wow, when I said I just had to reach 100 reviews I didn't think I would get there with the next chapter XD Thanks a bunch guys!

This was meant to be posted yesterday, but the site went down...while I was editing it...yeah *sigh*

Anyway, this chapter picks up right where the last one ended, enjoy;

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><p>Barricade<p>

Chapter 12: Nothing to Worry About?

"_Learning to trust is one of life's most difficult tasks"_

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><p>Shizuru continued to stare at her door for a while, unsure how exactly to go about dealing with Anh. She was well aware that she would need to make an effort to get along with the violet eyed woman; they were going to be living together after all. But Natsuki's reaction to the newcomer had set her edge somewhat.<p>

From her short experience in the brunette's presence, she was pretty sure that they would get on well enough, as long as Anh didn't make any serious insinuations about Natsuki. Trying to think positive, she recalled the conversation, if one could call it that, that they'd had with the brunette earlier. She replayed the event over in her mind, picking out bits of information that she could use to assess the situation. Fujino Shizuru was nothing if not an expert in reading people.

Anh had seemed playful more than anything, and at least Shizuru knew that she wouldn't have to worry about the woman finding her preferences disgusting. Playful as her tone had been, Anh's words hadn't just been for show, her eyes had made it perfectly clear that she liked what she saw. But then, Shizuru could hardly disagree with that; Natsuki was indeed a very appealing sight.

Apart from quite obviously being a shameless flirt, Anh hadn't physically invaded their personal space, and had in fact sat down when she'd noticed their mounting discomfort and tension. Her sitting down could be seen as an attempt to make her presence less threatening, though whether it was intentional or not remained to be seen.

She had maintained eye contact with both Shizuru and Natsuki when directly addressing them, which screamed confidence, and her choice of words had left little room to question her rather forward nature.

All in all, Shizuru's first impression of Anh was that she was probably a fun loving, flirtatious, confident woman, but ultimately, she was not trying to pose a threat.

With that conclusion in mind Shizuru pushed herself up of her bed and walked towards her bedroom door. With a deep intake of breath to compose herself she pulled up her mask and left her room. The small walkway outside her bedroom was only dimly illuminated by the light from the kitchen-come-living room and she squinted slightly in the semi-darkness.

She could hear music playing, though it wasn't loud, and sincerely hoped that Anh hadn't invited anyone into the apartment. She really wanted to make sure that the air between them was clear to prevent any further awkwardness on her part.

When she reached the room she was relieved to see that Anh was indeed on her own, hanging out of the window and smoking by the looks of things. She frowned slightly; she hated the smell of smoke and certainly didn't want the apartment to stink of the stuff. And anyway, the complex operated a no-smoking policy.

"I thought that you weren't allowed to smoke inside?" Despite it sounding like a question her tone let the brunette know that it wasn't. Anh turned the top half of her body, leaving one arm hanging out of the window to reduce the amount of smoke that entered the room,

"Well, I didn't want to tackle those stairs" She said with a smirk, and Shizuru had to admit that it was a fairly valid point. Still, she didn't want the room to smell. Before she could say anything though, Anh had flicked her cigarette out onto the street somewhere and was now just leaning on the window sill, looking out in to the city, much as she and Natsuki had been doing earlier.

Unsure what to say and feeling a little uncomfortable, Shizuru made her way towards one of the couches and sat down quietly. The music was emanating from a small set of speakers on the side in the kitchen and the Kyoto born was glad for it. She would have felt a lot more awkward if they'd been sat there in complete silence.

After a moment or two Anh turned and joined the crimson eyed girl on the couch, thankfully leaving a decent amount of space between them. Shizuru tried to think of something to say to break the ice, but for once, was at a loss. She was used to dealing with people that she didn't really know; it was pretty much part of the Kaichou's job after all. But, this was different. She was going to be living with Anh, so it actually mattered what she said...didn't it?

Perhaps not, neither of them were _really _stuck in that particular apartment. If they didn't get on and things got too awkward one of them could probably move to another apartment or something. And surely it would be better for all involved if they didn't pretend to be someone that they were not... if Shizuru had to constantly wear her mask she would probably end up being incredibly miserable.

But, she didn't much like the idea of revealing too much of her true self to the still relative stranger sat next to her. Well, they could keep things superficial for now she supposed. Even so...she still wasn't sure what to say. Anh however, did have something to say,

"Your girlfriend's hot" Shizuru's head almost snapped off her neck due the speed she turned to stare at the brunette, who flashed her a cheeky smile.

"Excuse me?" Had she heard that right?

"She's hot" Yes, she'd heard correctly. The Kyoto born fought the urge to scowl; Fujino Shizuru does not scowl,

"Yes, _my _girlfriend, and I would appreciate it if you didn't talk about Natsuki like that" Somehow, she managed to keep her voice calm and composed. The woman's smile didn't falter as she spoke again,

"Natsuki huh?... Natsu-ki... _Na-tsu-ki~..._ Nice!" Anh chuckled while testing the blunette's name on her tongue, seriously making it difficult for Shizuru to keep from scowling,

"Please don't call her that" Her voice still managed to hold a certain polite quality, much to Shizuru's own surprise.

"Oh? Well, you didn't give me much to work with" She said with a slight smirk and Shizuru forced herself to calm down, she'd already acknowledged that Anh was just being playful hadn't she?...but she _did _need to lay down some rules, because there was no way she was happy about the brunette's comments concerning Natsuki. "What's her family name then?"

"Kuga" Natsuki's family name sounded a little strange when she spoke it, probably because she hadn't used it in quite some time. Anh nodded,

"Kuga-san...she looked pretty good in those leathers" Ok, this really had to stop. Didn't this woman know what was appropriate and what wasn't? Much to her annoyance, and slight confusion, Anh laughed,

"Haha calm down, I know she's out of bounds" Apparently she had finally failed to keep the scowl off her face. Anh's words were meant to assure her, though it was difficult to feel assured when the assurer was still wearing a mischievous smile "Doesn't mean that I can't comment does it?"

"I would rather you didn't comment on Natsuki at all"

"Well, how about I comment on you instead?" Anh wiggled her eyebrows and Shizuru couldn't help it, she chuckled despite herself,

"Was that your attempt at a pick up line?" Anh seemed to brighten at her amusement,

"Did it work?"

"No" The ex-Kaichou deadpanned,

"Ah well, I know when I'm beaten" She sighed, and then with a smile continued "How about we just be friends then?" Shizuru regarded the slightly older woman before her and realised that once Anh wasn't talking about Natsuki, she was actually quite funny. And in reality, the brunette's comments weren't all that different from her own teasing, she probably only said such things because she found the Kyoto born's reaction to be humorous.

"I suppose we could come to an arrangement" Shizuru smiled, starting to feel a bit more relaxed,

"Will I like the arrangement?" Was the amused and slightly suggestive sounding response, to which Shizuru chuckled lightly,

"Possibly not"

"You're going to tell me that I can't say anything about Kuga-san aren't you?" Anh pouted and Shizuru acknowledged that on some level, she and the violet eyed girl were somewhat similar.

"Correct" She smiled, causing Anh to sigh in defeat,

"Fiiine" The downtrodden look the woman wore was almost comical, but it was soon replaced by a slight smirk, "I can't promise anything though, the odd comment may slip out" Shizuru got the feeling that the woman would not be trying to restrain herself at all, but she smiled politely anyway. With the awkward and uncomfortable atmosphere lifting quickly, the Kyoto born found that she felt much better.

"Now, why don't you tell my more about your sexy self" Anh suggested merrily, causing Shizuru to repress a groan.

* * *

><p>Natsuki stared at the TV screen, her eyes stinging through not blinking nearly enough and her thumbs moving of their own accord as her mind drifted. She kept having to refocus her eyes on the screen, as well as refocusing her <em>mind <em>to stay on her current activity. Which was playing Xbox with Mikoto.

The biker just couldn't for the life of her concentrate on the game. Her thoughts kept drifting to Shizuru, or more specifically, Shizuru's flatmate. She thought that she'd managed to cover just how bothered she still was when she left pretty well. She had no doubt that Shizuru would know that things weren't perfect, but she certainly liked to think that the older girl had not completely seen through her. She'd witnessed Shizuru pulling up her mask enough times to have learnt a trick or two of her own.

She didn't like using the Kyoto born's own trick against her, but as well as not wanting her girlfriend to worry, she'd felt somewhat vulnerable. Anh's appearance had really gotten to her and she wasn't used to feeling like her relationship with her most important person was being threatened. In reality, she wasn't really used to even acknowledging that she _had _a most important person.

If it hadn't been for the Carnival she wondered if she ever would have at all.

But, she _did _have a most important person, and that person was Shizuru. Dealing with possible threats to that relationship was not something she had dealt with before. At least not threats from an outside source anyway.

She'd felt truly threatened by Anh, and it had made her realise just how much of herself she'd invested in the Kyoto born. It scared her to think how much power Shizuru now had over her, unwittingly or not. She'd never been one to relinquish control, particularly control over herself, and she didn't know how to deal with this new situation she found herself in.

One in which she had very little control, if any at all. She could not control Anh, nor could she control Shizuru, all she could do was trust the Kyoto born and hope that nothing would happen.

"Natsuki, you're making us lose!" Mikoto's voice brought her out of her thoughts once more and she focused on the screen, where she noted that she was indeed contributing to their team's deaths rather heavily. So, with all the concentration she could muster, she focused on the game. By the time it ended she'd just about managed to level out her kills and deaths, though their team still lost. Once the game was finished, she disconnected her controller, leaving Mikoto to play on her own.

Mai watched from her bed as her blue haired friend trudged across the room to a set of draws, pulled out a baggy T-shirt and some shorts and then made her way to the bathroom. The red head had been curious about Natsuki's strange mood ever since the biker had returned about an hour ago.

The older girl had walked in and, without saying a word, plopped down onto the couch and started to play her xbox with a scowl on her face. Now, this would not have been at all strange a week or so ago, but now it was just plain weird. For the past two days Natsuki had been strangely smiley and content, owing to the fact that she was clearly in love with a certain chestnut haired Kyoto born. So, Mai thought it entirely strange that the biker would be so...old-Natsuki-ish after spending the afternoon with Shizuru.

She'd actually been expecting Natsuki to come home in a freakishly good mood. She sincerely hoped that nothing had happened between the ex-Kaichou and the biker.

When Natsuki reappeared from the bathroom, now donning her sleep wear, Mai regarded her with mild concern. Maybe the girl was just tired, she had been at school all week and she'd been helping Shizuru move as well. It seemed like a plausible explanation... until the blunette lay back on her bed and stared at the ceiling. She knew what that meant; Natsuki was mulling over some serious thoughts.

While she debated whether or not to ask the older girl if something was wrong she failed to notice said girl looking at her with a raised eyebrow, until Natsuki spoke,

"Why are you looking at me?" Mai smiled sheepishly,

"Uh...how was the move? Is Kaichou-san's apartment nice?" Natsuki shrugged slightly, the movement awkward due to her lay down position,

"Yeah, the apartment was alright" There was something about that sentence that made Mai suspicious...or was it curious? Either way, there was something not quite right about it...

"What about her flatmates?" Natsuki's gaze shifted back to the ceiling as she replied with a simple,

"Fine" The red head furrowed her eyebrows slightly, that didn't sound very promising,

"Okaaaay... are you sure?" She prodded, which earned her an irritated huff, and a curt response,

"Yes, _I'm sure_" Natsuki then turned on to her side, facing away from her roommate. Ok, Mai was seriously starting to get concerned now; clearly Natsuki was not happy with Shizuru's flatmates. But, what could they have done to evoke such an obviously negative reaction?

Natsuki wasn't exactly known for getting wound up by what complete strangers thought of her, and even if she did get a little rattled it never lasted more than a couple of minutes. She generally didn't give a shit what other people thought, so the flatmates can't have said anything to her.

Perhaps they had said something to Shizuru then? But, Mai imagined that if that was the case Natsuki probably would have been more forthcoming with her disliking of the older girl's flatmates, in fact she would probably have gone into a massive rant about how stupid and annoying they were.

Then she remembered the conversation they'd had a week ago; Natsuki had told her that she was worried about Shizuru meeting somebody at university. She highly doubted that this had happened, certainly not in one day, but she figured that she was probably on the right lines. Perhaps Shizuru's roommates were the type of people that Natsuki had been worried about Shizuru falling for?...That seemed possible.

She glanced at her blue haired friend with a slight frown as she tried to think of a way to breach the topic. Should she ask what was wrong or just go with her hunch and question the girl outright?

"Don't even think about it Tokiha" Natsuki's voice cut off any possible words she was about to form, causing the frown on her face to deepen,

"Don't be so stubborn! I can tell that something's bothering you!" To her surprise, Natsuki chuckled at her words, though the noise did not sound as mirthful as it should have,

"I'm just tired, so would you mind shutting up and letting me sleep?" Not at all convinced by the older girl's words, Mai considered trying to pry the information out of the girl, but quickly decided that Natsuki obviously didn't want to talk about it. So, with an almost dejected sigh, she lay back on her own bed,

"Fine, but if you want to talk about it I'm here to listen" She said honestly, not expecting or receiving any response from the blunette.

* * *

><p>The honking of a car horn woke Shizuru suddenly and she opened her eyes to be greeted by an unfamiliar room. She rolled over and only just stopped herself from falling out of her suddenly smaller bed. After a short bout of confusion she realised where she was and relaxed back into the mattress, her hand covering her eyes while she stretched.<p>

Her crimson eyes then flicked across her new bedroom before landing on her alarm clock, which she had set up next to her bedside lamp on the end of her desk. It was almost 11 o'clock, which was still pretty early in her books, but she decided to get up anyway. She really needed to start getting back into some sort of routine before her classes started otherwise she'd be a walking zombie for a week or two.

She had another 2 weeks before classes officially started and in all honesty, she was quite looking forward to it. Not the actual lessons themselves but the reprieve from hours of boredom they would hopefully provide. Not that she expected her business classes to be anything other than a borefest, but at least she wouldn't be wandering around her apartment to kill time.

With Natsuki taking summer classes the spring break had seemed longer this year since she'd had nothing to do during the day. The blunette would be starting her second year in a week's time as well, which would mean that the Kyoto born would have an extra week of free time. Still, she supposed that she at least had Anh's company now...though whether that would be a good or bad thing she still hadn't decided.

The night before she and Anh had stayed up for quite some time just chatting about general things. What they had done before coming here, how old they were, how they liked spending their time etc etc. She'd found out that Anh was 21 and had spent the past few years doing what she loved; travelling and sleeping around. Apparently the brunette was only attending university because she knew that there would be a lot of girls there...something that did not surprise Shizuru at all after spending an hour in the woman's presence.

The Kyoto born doubted that that was Anh's only reason for attending Fuuka University, but she certainly thought it had played a large part in the brunette's decision.

And, as she'd suspected, Anh had not refrained from making comments about Natsuki. After a while though, Shizuru had decided that getting worked up about it was pointless, especially since she knew that the older woman was just messing around.

In the end, she'd actually found that spending time with Anh wasn't too bad. She was more than certain that she could live with the woman anyway, which was good, she just hoped that Natsuki would be alright with that. Their other flatmate had not made an appearance yet, she thought was a little strange, but maybe they would turn up later on.

After another quick stretch she got out of bed with the intention of having a nice cup of tea and then a hot shower. It was definitely colder in this part of Fuuka and she quickly pulled her clothes on, not wanting to walk about the apartment in her sleepwear with Anh lurking around.

Being careful to not trip over the boxes she had piled up near her door, she left the room and headed for the kitchen. It didn't take her long to attribute the cold air in the apartment to the open window, where Anh was once again smoking. It didn't seem like the brunette had noticed her and she didn't particularly feel the need to announce her presence.

So, she simply opened the cupboard she had claimed as her own and pulled out the things she would need to prepare the perfect cup of morning tea. While she busied herself with this task, she failed to notice that the other occupant of the room _had_ noticed her arrival,

"So, you're a tea drinker huh?" The Kyoto born very nearly jumped out of her skin at the husky voice that swept past her face, indicating that Anh was incredibly close. Expecting that it would be a bad idea to turn around with the woman's face as close as it was, she stepped to the side slightly before facing her flatmate, who was grinning at her, "Morning"

"Good morning Lu-san" Shizuru smiled politely, her mask having formed in seconds. Just because they had gotten on well the night before didn't mean that she wasn't still a little wary of the flirtatious woman.

"Any chance I could get a cup?" It took a moment for Shizuru's brain to understand what Anh was talking about, but when it did eventually catch up she nodded with a slight smile. Minutes later and the two of them were sat in the living room, each on their own couch as they sipped their tea in silence. Until Anh broke that silence anyway,

"This is good! I don't even really like tea but this just might've changed my mind!" The brunette exclaimed, causing Shizuru to raise an eyebrow at the woman,

"If you don't like tea why did you ask me to make some for you?" Anh chuckled and replied with a slight shrug,

"I thought it might help with the whole 'flatmate bonding' thing" Shizuru chuckled herself at this but gave a slight nod to show that she accepted that reason. The Kyoto born would have been more than happy to sit in silence, enjoying her tea, but apparently Anh was as talkative as ever, "We're going out tomorrow by the way, with as many people from this floor as possible, and we're not coming back until everyone's drunk" Although amused by her flatmates priorities, Shizuru didn't really think it would be a good idea to accompany Anh.

She imagined that Natsuki would be less than happy about her going out drinking with the older brunette.

"Ah, Kanin na Lu-san, but I'm not old enough to drink" The fact that her excuse was in fact true made things a lot easier...although Anh didn't seem to be put off by her words at all and gave her a slight smirk,

"Doesn't matter, you've got a great pair so the guys will just look the other way and serve you" The younger girl closed her eyes and sighed lightly,

"Can you please stop saying things like that?"

"But it's true! You do have a great pai..."

"Alright" Shizuru cut her off "I will come, but I won't be drinking" She supposed there was no harm in socialising with the people she was sharing a floor with, in fact; it was something that she knew she _needed _to do. Knowing the people who were living nearby was important and she understood that the best way to get to know who was who was by socialising with them. And anyway...Natsuki went out drinking with Nao. There wasn't really much difference, so perhaps the blunette would be ok with it...

"Where's the fun in that?" Anh protested, rather vigorously too. Shizuru chuckled,

"I don't think that you need alcohol to have a good time" Anh sighed and waved her hand slightly to dismiss the comment,

"I guess you're right," Her expression turned somewhat mischievous before she continued, "As long as there's pretty girls, I'm sure we'll have plenty of fun, alcohol or not" She winked and Shizuru couldn't help but chuckle again.

* * *

><p>Mai fought the urge to poke her blue haired friend, who was currently staring absently at the mass of homework before her. The scene was somewhat similar to the one they'd been in a week earlier and Mai found herself thinking similar thoughts.<p>

Her questioning the night before had yielded no results but she figured that she might be able to get some information out of the biker now that the older girl had slept on it. Just as she was about to speak up though, the blunette's phone rang out loudly and the older girl swiftly grabbed it and placed it next to her ear,

"Hey Shizuru" Natsuki moved away from her nosey roommate and headed out of the apartment so she could have some privacy. Mai would no doubt question her when she got back, but she would deal with that later.

"_Ara, Natsuki looked at her caller ID for a change" _Shizuru's cheerful voice, which usually lifted her mood, only made the uneasy feeling in her stomach worsen slightly,

"Yeah..." She felt awkward for some reason and she wasn't sure what to say,

"_Are you okay Natsuki? You sound stressed" _She cursed Shizuru's perceptiveness. How could the older girl possibly had deduced that she was stressed from a single word? She quickly thought of a plausible excuse,

"Yeah, I'm just sick of homework" She forced a chuckle past her lips and hoped that the Kyoto born would buy her justification.

"_Well, at least you only have one more week of extra classes"_ The slight lilt in Shizuru's voice made Natsuki doubt that the older girl had really believed her words, but apparently she wasn't going to push the matter, much to her relief.

They talked about various random and pointless things for a while before Natsuki finally managed to ask the question she'd been holding in since the conversation started,

"How are things going with your flatmate?" She couldn't even bring herself to say Anh's name and it irritated her,

"_Better" _Shizuru laughed lightly _"Lu-san is actually quite funny once you get used to her" _That answer did not make Natsuki feel any better at all, but she tried to shove the negative thoughts to the back of her mind. She should be glad that Shizuru was getting on with Anh, and she decided to give playing the 'supportive girlfriend' a try,

"I'm glad that you're getting on well" Much to her further irritation her voice betrayed how she really felt about it and she cringed,

"_No you're not" _Shizuru's tone was light and amused, which confused the younger girl; why would the Kyoto born think her comment was humorous? She wasn't trying to be funny; she was trying to be supportive. With a slight frown she ignored her girlfriend's amusement and spoke again,

"I am. I want you to get on with the people you're living with" She _was_ being somewhat honest; she did want Shizuru to be friends with the people she was sharing a living space with, to a certain extent...she just didn't want them to get _too _friendly.

"S_o Natsuki won't mind if I go out tomorrow with Lu-san?" _The older girl's earlier amused tone suddenly made sense to the biker; Shizuru was trying to keep the conversation light, knowing that this revelation may be an issue. In truth, she couldn't deny the unpleasant feeling this knowledge gave her, but she once again tried her best to ignore it. Shizuru shouldn't have to ask her about this, and she certainly shouldn't be worried about doing so.

"No, I don't mind" She lied, relieved that her voice sounded normal this time "Um...have fun" She felt bad for lying to the older girl of course, but she was determined not to make Shizuru feel like she couldn't have a good time.

"Ookini_" _The Kyoto born paused for a moment before speaking up again, _"Would you like to come round for a while in the day? I'd like to see My Natsuki before she is taken away from me by her evil studies"_ Natsuki had to admit that when Shizuru said silly things like that it did cheer up. She laughed a little,

"Sure, um...about 1ish?" Shizuru made a sound of agreement and they then moved onto other topics. Natsuki found out that Shizuru's other flatmate hadn't yet made an appearance, which set her on edge somewhat; she would have felt better knowing that Shizuru wasn't in the apartment on her own with Anh. But, there was nothing she could do about it. Soon enough their conversation came to an end,

"_Alright, good luck with your studies, I love you" _Shizuru's words of love didn't sound quite as happy as they had previously, which bothered Natsuki and she hoped that she wasn't doing anything to make the older girl worry. She made sure that her response held as much emotion and sincerity as she could muster,

"I love you too" She wasn't quite able to decide how well she'd done with that endeavour, she just hoped that it had been enough to settle any misgivings the older girl might be having. With the phone call ended her mind instantly drifted to the fact that Shizuru would be going out drinking with Anh...not that it should matter but... she shook her head, she trusted Shizuru. Nothing was going to happen.

She headed back into the apartment and Mai's curious gaze was upon her instantly.

She pointedly ignored her friend and made a conscious effort to look busy with her homework, rifling through the papers as she lay on her bed, propped up by her elbows. Annoyingly, it took Mai mere seconds to disregard her 'busy' status,

"Everything alright Natsuki?" The blunette's eyebrow twitched ever so slightly. She hated to admit it, but Mai just had a way of making her talk...she could already feel the invisible strings pulling words from her throat. It was something about the younger girl's voice she presumed...or maybe it was the irritating way she always looked so willing to help...

"I'm fine" She replied curtly, hoping that the red head would just drop the matter and leave her be,

"Liar" No such luck apparently "It's something to do with Kaichou-san's flatmates right?" How in the hell did the girl manage to do that? How could she have possibly known what was bothering her? It wasn't like she had complained bitterly about Anh or anything...though now she looked back on it, her comments had been somewhat...lacking. And her blunt refusal to talk about it the night before had probably given the red head a large hint.

"Actually, she only has one flatmate at the minute" She corrected, while at the same time ignoring Mai's question. She knew it was pointless to do so but she was going to make things as difficult as she could for her roommate.

"Oh...well, what's she called?" Natsuki raised an eyebrow at the seemingly strange question,

"Why does her name matter?"

"Because I can hardly keep saying 'Kaichou-san's flatmate' can I?" Mai smirked, which earned her an eye roll from the older girl. Sensing defeat, Natsuki sighed,

"Anh Lu...Lu is her family name I think" She added, while idly twirling her pen with her fingers, her eyes downcast, staring at her still untouched homework.

"Ok... Do you miss Kaichou-san?" The off topic question took Natsuki by surprise and she turned to give her friend a quizzical look. Mai looked fairly sincere about her question, but Natsuki knew better; the red head was trying to catch her off guard,

"Don't be stupid. I only saw her yesterday" Her tone clearly held suspicion but Mai didn't seem to react to it,

"Well, you know, they say that absence makes the heart grow stronger" The busty girl practically sing-songed, much to the biker's annoyance,

"That's great and all, but it's not that Shizuru's at university that's bothering me" She cringed as the sentence left her mouth,

"Aha! So you admit that something is bothering you?" Mai grinned, which was a little out of place considering she'd just gotten her friend to admit that something was wrong. She quickly sobered and gave Natsuki a soft smile, "Come on, what's going on? You've been miserable all day"

"It's nothi..."

"Stop trying to be all tough and spill!" Mai insisted and Natsuki finally gave up. Maybe the younger girl could help settle her worries.

"Shizuru's flatmate...Lu...she's..." She couldn't think of an adequate word to describe the troublesome brunette. Mai waited patiently for her to finish her sentence but after a moment she decided to suggest something,

"Threatening?" The way the older girl flinched ever so slightly let her known that this was indeed a correct assumption. She knew that admitting she felt threatened was not something that came easily to the ice princess and she gave her friend a reassuring look, "You trust Kaichou-san right?" She received a nod in response, "Then what are you worrying about?" Natsuki sighed,

"It's not Shizuru I'm worried about. I trust her, but I _don't _trust Lu" She clarified, and Mai found herself wondering just what kind of person this 'Anh Lu' was.

"Worried about the flatmate putting the moves on your woman?" The unexpected voice made both girls jump slightly and they both snapped their heads to the side to see Mikoto and a very amused looking Yuuki Nao. The two reclining teens had been so focused on their conversation that they hadn't heard the apartment door open/close.

"Yuuki! What the hell are you doing here?" Natsuki snapped, feeling thoroughly embarrassed at being caught talking about something that she considered to be a serious weakness of hers.

"Relax Kuga, Mikoto invited me in" Nao smirked before plastering a mostly uninterested look on her face, "What's up with you and Fujino?" Natsuki blinked at her for a moment...as did Mai. Feeling somewhat self-conscious she eyed the two for a moment before speaking "_What?"_ Natsuki was the first to snap out of it,

"I'm just not used to you actually calling Shizuru by her name" There was a genuine smile on the biker's lips and it made Nao feel slightly embarrassed for some reason. Before her embarrassment became noticeable she quickly diverted the attention back to Natsuki,

"Whatever. You must have done something wrong if you're worried she might stray" She said offhandedly, which had the desired effect as Natsuki immediately sat up on her bed and shot her a glare,

"What? I didn't do anything!" She protested loudly. Nao sneered at her, feeling much better now that the older girl wasn't smiling nicely at her,

"You sure? You're pretty stupid" She goaded, ignoring the reprimanding stare Mai was giving her,

"Are nuns supposed to insult people?" The blunette teased, which made Nao's sneer falter. Before she could even think of a retort though Mai spoke up,

"Natsuki, Nao-chan, please" Natsuki laughed,

"Yeah, _Nao-chaaaaaan_" The younger red head growled and grabbed the first object she could find, which happened to be a nearby lamp, and proceeded to lunge at the still snickering biker, intent on beating her over the head with her newly acquired weapon.

* * *

><p>A few minutes later and the apartment was calm once more.<p>

Fortunately, Natsuki hadn't suffered any serious injuries thanks to Mai's quick reflexes. The busty girl had grabbed the chord of the lamp, yanking it out of Nao's hands, thus removing the red heads advantage. Her actions, followed by some reprimanding words had settled the two arguing 'friends'.

The two delinquents were now sat on the couch, arms crossed and looking away from each other like a couple of 5 year olds. Mai had left them to 'sort things out' and was currently pottering away in the kitchen with Mikoto, no doubt making the spiky haired girl something to eat.

After a minute or two of intense silence Nao decided to give up on trying to annoy Natsuki by ignoring her and instead pulled out her nail file, knowing full well that the scratching sound it made against her nail's would grate on the biker's nerves.

Sure enough, mere seconds later, Natsuki's eyebrow started to twitch at the incessant scraping noise. How the hell did Nao even have any nails left with the amount of time she spent filing the damn things? It was ridiculous...and stupid...and utterly pointless...and damn annoying!

"Will you cut it out!" She barked and received a chuckle in response, though Nao did put the nail file away. With a slight huff Natsuki turned her attention back to the other side of the room, where she had been looking earlier, her arms still folded across her chest.

"Is she hot?" Nao asked a few seconds later, throwing Natsuki completely,

"What?" Nao fought the urge to laugh at the confused expression the older girl gave her and instead elaborated,

"The flatmate. Is she hot?" The blunette regarded her for a second, apparently searching her face for something that would explain the weird enquiry. A slight smirk appeared on Natsuki lips and she laughed quietly, her previous annoyance with the red head having disappeared,

"What, do you want me to hook you up with her or something?" Nao scowled, she didn't know why she ever bothered trying to help the stupid almost-second-year student sometimes.

"No, I'm not a massive gay like you" Amusingly this comment brought a slight blush to Natsuki's cheeks, "I quite like co..."

"Nao-Chan!" Mai yelled from the kitchen, causing the younger red head to cackle loudly and shoot the busty girl a mischievous look.

"Anyway" She continued, turned back to face Natsuki, "I was asking because if she's a dog you don't have anything to worry about" The older girl wasn't sure what to make of that comment. It definitely proved what she already knew; Nao was all about looks when it came to 'relationships', not that the brash girl was interested in such things of course.

But, beyond that, it could also sound like a compliment if you read between the lines... Nao was insinuating that Shizuru wouldn't be with somebody unless they were 'hot', which by association, meant that she considered the biker to be just that.

Surely that wasn't what Nao meant though, and Natsuki promptly discarded that thought in favour of actually thinking about the red head's question. It didn't take her long to answer,

"That's the problem, she isn't ugly at all...and she's a massive flirt...and I'm pretty sure she was just teasing us the entire time...and the very first word she said was 'ara'...and, damn it she's just like Shizuru!" This realisation hit her over the head so suddenly she almost physically felt the impact. Nao found Natsuki's exasperated rant to be rather humorous and as such, she decided to laugh, much to the blunette's annoyance. Once she'd calmed down she spoke with a disinterested tone,

"What are you worried about then?" This earned her another frown,

"Have you been listening at all?" Maybe having this conversation with Nao wasn't the best idea,

"Yeah, you said that she's just like the Kyoto witch" She promptly ignored the older girl's scowl and continued "Nobody wants to date themselves do they?" Now seriously regretting her decision to tell the red head what was going on, Natsuki decided to subtly shift the focus away from herself,

"That doesn't even make sense! And anyway, who made you the queen of relationship advice? Child whore" She then very quickly jumped of the couch and away from the younger girl, who growled dangerously before lunging after her,

"Get back here Kuga!" Needless to say Mai was soon involved in another 'fight' between the aggressive pair.

* * *

><p>Natsuki trudged up her third set of stairs, grumbling quietly to herself as her thighs complained against the exercise. She was quite a fit person but these damn stairs just took the biscuit. Seriously, would it have been too much trouble to just install a lift? She rounded the corner and started to traipse up the fourth set, ignoring the lanky boy who smiled at her as he walked in the opposite direction.<p>

'_Just two more sets to go...come oooon'_ She was on her way to see Shizuru and her stomach was turning in a mix of excitement and anxiety. She really didn't want to see Anh, but it was inevitable if she wanted to see Shizuru, and she had already decided to at least _try _and not punch the woman in the face. She doubted that Shizuru would approve of her beating her flatmate into a bloody pulp. She just hoped that the brunette didn't do anything to severely piss her off.

By the time she reached the final set of stairs she was practically dragging herself up them by the handrail, cursing her girlfriend for living on the top floor. Her legs felt a little wobbly due to the exertion as she walked down the corridors towards Shizuru's room. The halls were almost eerily quiet in comparison to the last time she'd been here and she idly hoped that she was on the right floor.

She easily found Shizuru's door though, and for some reason, she paused outside it. She stared at the faded wood for a moment, before shaking her head to rid herself of the sudden bout of nervousness and knocking loudly, shuffling her feel a little while she waited.

She was thrown off when she wasn't greeted by Shizuru, but Anh, who was smiling mischievously at her. Before she could say anything though Shizuru appeared next to the brunette, looking slightly flustered but also mildly amused.

"Well hello there Kuga-san, to what do we owe the pleasure?" The tall woman stood in the doorway, her arms braced against the doorframe, preventing Natsuki from entering the apartment. Her eyes trailed across Natsuki's body before returning to her face "I have a thing for uniforms you know" She winked, much to the blunette's annoyance.

She quickly reminded herself that she'd said she wouldn't do anything violent.

She shifted her gaze between Anh and Shizuru, slightly confused and also a little worried. Why was the violet eyed girl not letting her in? And why had she answered the door when Shizuru knew that she was on her way over? Unsure what to say she stood there awkwardly, fighting the urge to tug at her skirt after Anh's comment. Thankfully the Shizuru came to her rescue,

"Lu-san, would you let Natsuki in please?" Or at least she tried to; annoyingly, Anh didn't budge,

"Ara, I do believe that you're forgetting our deal are you not?" The brunette spoke over her shoulder, where Shizuru gave her a pointed look,

"I didn't agree to anything" Shizuru said, shooting Natsuki what looked like an apologetic smile...why was she apologising?

"Doesn't matter. I got to the door first, which means I get to kiss the person on the other side" Anh grinned smugly, which caused a deep frown to form on the blunette's face,

"Not gunna happen" She said curtly, her fingers twitching ever so slightly in agitation,

"You two are so boring" Anh complained with a slight pout before sighing and moving away from the doorway, heading back into the apartment and leaving the couple alone at the entrance. Shizuru smiled warmly at the biker, who despite her somewhat sour mood, couldn't help but return it.

"Would Natsuki give me a kiss for coming second?" Shizuru asked with a slightly amused tone, though she was being entirely serious. The younger girl rolled her eyes at the request; she should've expected such a thing from her girlfriend really. With a quick glance down the hallway to make sure that they wouldn't have an audience, she leaned towards the older girl. Shizuru instantly wrapped her arms around Natsuki's neck, pulling her in and capturing her lips.

It took the blunette a mere second to decide that she had missed this, and she placed her hands on the older girl's waist, holding there. She idly wondered how Shizuru had gotten so good at kissing...and then quickly decided that she didn't want to know.

"Oh come on! You pair of teases!" The voice made the two break apart and they stared at its owner; Anh, who evidently hadn't made it far into the apartment and was currently stood in front of her bedroom door, a slight pout still gracing her features.

Natsuki glared at the brunette, ignoring the blush that spread across her cheeks, and tightened her hold on Shizuru's hips slightly.

The Kyoto born sighed and leant her head against Natsuki's shoulder for a moment before pulling away and moving further into the apartment, glancing over her shoulder at Natsuki with a look that clearly told her to follow. The blunette quickly obeyed, though she made sure to close the apartment door first.

The pair then walked past Anh and disappeared into the chestnut haired girl's bedroom, where Shizuru promptly closed and locked her door.

"Do I need to turn my music up?" Anh's voice sounded through the apartment, causing Natsuki's blush to deepen as she understood what the woman was insinuating. Shizuru answered with an uncharacteristically blunt 'No' before moving over to her bed and perching herself on the end of it.

Her eyes easily found Natsuki's moments later and she succeeded in drawing the girl towards her with an alluring smile and a soft tone,

"Come here" As soon as Natsuki was close enough Shizuru reached out, wrapped her arms around the girl's waist and tugged, effectively pulling the biker into her lap. The action had been unexpected, and as such it took the younger girl a moment to figure out what had happened.

She glanced down at her body and noted that she was now sat astride Shizuru, her knees cushioned by the soft duvet covering the older girl's bed...then she noticed that her current position had caused her skirt to ride up dangerously high. Her cheeks flushed madly in response to their intimate position and the state of her clothing and she struggled against her girlfriend, trying to free herself from the Kyoto born's hold,

"Shi-Shizuru! What are you doing?" Shizuru was a lot stronger than she looked though, and she held the blunette in place with ease.

"I thought that Natsuki might want to rest her legs after walking up all those stairs" Shizuru replied in a sweet tone that didn't comfort the younger girl whatsoever. After a couple more seconds of struggling though, Natsuki realised that the only thing her thrashing achieved was rubbing herself up against the older girl, something that in her current position probably wasn't a very good idea.

She stilled her body and sighed, her cheeks still tinted deep red as she refused to look at Shizuru's face,

"I could have rested my legs on the bed you know" She said, trying to sound less embarrassed than she was and failing miserably,

"Oh? But Natsuki's legs_ are_ on the bed are they not?" The blunette scowled slightly; technically, Shizuru was right. She stayed silent for a long while, her blush slowly fading as she relaxed. Shizuru's arms were still wound tightly around her waist, and once her embarrassment had died down somewhat, she actually found that their embrace wasn't so bad. It was still a little shocking just how natural it felt to be held by the Kyoto born, but she was slowly getting used to it.

After a few more moments of inactivity she chanced a look at the older girl's face and was shocked to find that a faint blush adorned the ex-Kaichou's cheeks. Crimson eyes bore into her and she felt a familiar heat quickly return to her face.

Shizuru's blush had been caused by her girlfriend's movements, and while her original intention had been to simply hold the younger girl she now found that she wanted more than that. She wasn't sure if it was purely because of Natsuki's actions or if maybe not seeing the girl for a few days had caused her need to seem more intense. She also had an inkling that spending so much time around Anh was affecting her mind, the brunette did enjoy making sexual jokes and such like.

The cause wasn't really important though; the Kyoto born just wanted to figure out the best way to deal with her sudden surge of desire. Natsuki had said that it was alright for her to touch hadn't she? So, would it be alright for her to touch now? She stared into emerald eyes, trying to discern what the girl was thinking.

Shizuru's eyes were swirling with emotion and Natsuki found herself getting lost in the older girl's intense gaze. She could see affection there, but there was also slight anxiety and something else that she couldn't quite place. It was the lack of amusement that really caught her attention though. She very rarely saw Shizuru's expression completely void of some form of amusement and she wondered if she should be worried by its absence.

Owing to the strange atmosphere she could feel surrounding them she couldn't find her voice to ask the girl if she was alright, instead she continued to watch the Kyoto born's face intently. Shizuru seemed to be surveying her own expression and she wondered what the girl would be able to see there.

After a moment, she felt Shizuru's hands move. Intense crimson continued to flit across her face as if searching for something and Natsuki found herself unable to look away. Her heart started to pound with a little more force as the older girl's hands slowly slid down her back.

When Shizuru's hands paused in their decent the biker somehow got the girl's message and lifted her arms to wrap around the Kyoto born's neck, therefore holding herself steady and eliminating the risk of her falling off the girl's lap.

With that taken care of, the older girl's hands started to move again. They leisurely made their way across Natsuki's hips, travelling around the hem of her jacket before dipping underneath and brushing up her sides through the fabric of her hooded top. When they reached her ribs they slid around to her back, fingertips pressing into the material as they trailed down her spine.

Natsuki shivered as she felt slight pressure against the small of her back, and by the time Shizuru's hands had traced along the waistband of her skirt her breathing was shaky and she was sure that the temperature of the room had shot up.

Before the heat made her uncomfortable, Shizuru raised her hands, sliding them underneath her jacket at the shoulder and lifting the material until it fell down her back. The biker released each of her arms from her sleeves, the clothing falling to floor in a crumpled pile before she returned to her previous position.

She felt hands on her sides again, their stroking motions feather light, only just passing through her thin clothing and onto her skin. Despite the very slight pressure Shizuru was applying, Natsuki could feel the heat radiating from the older girl's palms, warming her own skin further.

Her breathing hitched when Shizuru's fingers slipped underneath her hooded top to press against her stomach lightly, tracing random patterns and sending another bout of small tremors through her muscles. Her breathing started to accelerate and she knew that her cheeks would be flushed.

Throughout all their movements, Shizuru's eyes hadn't left her face for a second. Natsuki was sure that the crimson gaze had gotten more intense, if only slightly, and she wondered what was going through the girl's mind. She also noticed that each of Shizuru's breaths were unsteady, the quiet, shaky exhales brushed against her face, occasionally stirring cobalt strands.

The older girl's hands crept across her bare skin, mapping its surface and leaving a trail of goose bumps where ever they went. Fingertips felt slightly cool against her heated skin and she tightened her hold around Shizuru's neck as they traced along her ribs.

The Kyoto born's left hand retreated from the confines of her top and moved up to cup her cheek. She used the pad of her thumb to trace Natsuki's lips, her eyes following the movement. Before long her thumb was replaced by her lips and she dragged them lightly across the area.

Natsuki was stunned by the action, the feel of Shizuru's lips just barely brushing against her own was unusual and new, though certainly not unpleasant. She didn't move, she could barely breathe, and her mind was quickly becoming useless. It was as if Shizuru had woven some sort of spell on her and she wouldn't have been able to break free if she'd wanted to.

After what felt like hours Shizuru's lips finally pressed more firmly against her own, though their pressure was still light, their movements slow and subtle. The pace was difficult to for Natsuki to match but she soon forgot about it all together in favour of tracking the older girl's hands as they continued to explore her skin.

While Shizuru's left hand returned to its previous position and resumed its explorations of her stomach and back, her right dropped down to play with the material of her skirt for a moment. This caught Natsuki's full attention and her heart beat raced, pulsing in her ears and drowning out any other sounds.

The slight pressure she could feel through her skirt soon drifted lower, slowly trailing downwards until it met the exposed skin of her left thigh. Her breath caught in her throat as Shizuru stroked along the bare skin, her palm brushing downwards all the way to her knee before moving back up again just as slowly.

The older girl's left hand soon copied the action on her other thigh and Natsuki felt her body temperature rise dramatically. Whatever Shizuru was doing, it was seriously having an effect on her body. Her mind felt hazy and her heart was thumping violently in her chest, she couldn't even remember how they had ended up doing this in the first place.

Shizuru was struggling to control herself, something that she often found herself doing when in such close proximity to the younger girl. She was determined not to make the same mistake she'd made the week before though, even if Natsuki had said that she hadn't done anything wrong.

She wasn't going to rush anything, and she was paying as much attention as she could to Natsuki's reactions to her gentle caresses; if she sensed any sort of uneasiness from the blunette she would stop. So far though, she hadn't felt anything that would suggest the girl was uncomfortable. So, she continued her motions.

Her hands, which were still slowly stroking the younger girl's thighs, gained more confidence as she moved them upwards once more, this time her fingertips applied more pressure and she felt Natsuki's breathing against her face intensify slightly. Their lips were still only lightly touching and the older girl was growing tired of their current pace.

She pressed against Natsuki's lips more firmly and after a few moments, swept her tongue out to deepen the kiss further. While she kept the younger girl's mind occupied with the movements of her mouth, her fingertips slid under her skirt, barely past the first knuckle, but she was sure that Natsuki had noticed as the hold around her neck tightened.

She waited for the blunette to relax before moving again, though her fingers twitched from time to time, eager to explore more of the smooth skin. When she was sure that Natsuki was alright, she used her fingertips to stroke higher, moving upwards along the biker's outer thigh until she met the material of her underwear.

Her heartbeat thundered in her ears and struggled to control her breathing so as not to break the kiss. She traced along the lacy material, following it around the girl's leg before shifting her hands and cupping her behind gently.

Natsuki jumped ever so slightly and broke their kiss to gasp. Shizuru kept her hands still, her eyes searching Natsuki's face a little nervously. The younger girl kept her eyes closed, her face covered in a deep blush and her breathing irregular. The Kyoto born noted that her own breathing was a little erratic but paid it no heed.

Tentatively, she squeezed the flesh in her hands, earning her another gasp as the girl's eyebrows furrowed slightly. As much as she wanted to watch Natsuki's face, there were other things calling out for her attention, such as the soft skin of the biker's neck.

She planted a series of feather light kisses along the blunette's jaw line, and then down her neck until she felt the younger girl's pulse beneath her lips. She let her breath tickle the skin for a moment before pressing her lips against the sensitive spot and sucked on it gently. Natsuki released a sharp gasp and the older girl felt her arousal start to climb.

In response to the wave of heat that rolled through her body, she tightened the hold she had on Natsuki's backside, inadvertently pulling their hips closer together and sending an unexpected jolt of pleasure through her system. She released a gasp of her own and struggled to keep her hips still, knowing that she would easily get swept away by her mounting desire if she got too distracted by the needs of her own body.

She returned her attention to the patch of skin she had been working on previously, her tongue pressing against it and her teeth occasionally nipping at the flesh, pulling more gasps from Natsuki's throat, which did not help with her arousal.

She really started to struggle to control herself when the blunette began to squirm slightly, she could feel every slight twitch in the younger girl's body as it pressed against her own and she knew that she was going to have do something about it if she wanted to keep her sanity.

She removed her hands from under Natsuki's skirt, though she wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or not when the pressure against her pelvis lessened slightly. She quickly distracted herself by letting her right hand wander underneath the blunette's top again, her fingers trekking up the plane of the girl's stomach to find the material of her bra. Her other hand rested on an exposed thigh, the pad of her thumb rubbing in small circles against the skin.

Her mouth left its position on the biker's neck, and she trailed kisses wherever she could as she made her way back up to the younger girl's lips, which she swiftly captured with her own while her fingers played with the lacy material in their grasp.

The way Natsuki's gasped into her mouth as she traced along the cup of the bra made her head spin and she couldn't restrain a soft moan in response to it. After exploring the bra a little while longer she gathered her nerves and cupped the girl's breast gently, delighting in the way it fit perfectly in her hand.

Natsuki's chest heaved under her touch and Shizuru was forced to pull out of the kiss to facilitate the younger girl's accelerated breathing. She waited a moment before squeezing the mound cautiously, pulling a quite moan from the blunette's throat that sent a bout of tremors through the older girl's body.

With the assurance that the younger girl was enjoying her touch, her ministrations slowly became more firm and confident. She watched Natsuki's face as the girl tried to suppress her reactions, her jaw was now clenched shut to prevent any moans from spilling past her lips, but Shizuru could still hear the muted sounds as they reverberated through her throat.

Her need to feel the biker's skin started to overwhelm her again, but as she moved her hand with the intention of slipping it inside the girl's bra and loud bang broke through the tension of the room, making both girls jump and immediately still all movement.

"I'm going to the shop, you two want anything?" Anh's voice questioned through the bedroom door, at which Shizuru promptly glared in frustration. She gathered herself as much as she could, and in the best polite voice she could muster, spoke,

"No, we're ok" Realising that her response was a bit too curt coming from her, she added "Ookini for asking though"

"You sure? What about you Kuga-san?" Shizuru glanced at her girlfriend, whose face was tomato red, her eye's showing something akin to mild panic, and quickly tried to think of something to say to prevent her girlfriend from dying of embarrassment. She wasn't fast enough though and the need to say something made Natsuki squeak out,

"I-I'm fine too!" An awkward silence followed, during in which both girl's held their breath as they waited for Anh to say something. After a couple of seconds, that felt like minutes, the brunette finally spoke up,

"Well, I already knew that" The woman's light laughter was muted because of the door, but was still clearly audible. Shizuru got the feeling that Anh knew she'd interrupted something, which would no doubt lead to a rather embarrassing conversation later on, but apparently she wasn't going to say anything now. Instead she uttered a quick "I won't be long!" and the sound of the apartment door opening and closing soon folowed.

The chestnut haired girl sighed in slight irritation, not even bothering to hide it since she was in Natsuki's presence. That was the second time she'd been interrupted just before things really got good! Ok, so maybe the last time it had probably been for the best, but still!

First Natsuki's mobile phone and now Anh...perhaps she should just lob the younger girl's phone at the brunette's head, you know, kill two birds with one stone? Harsh? She was frustrated damn it!

"Shizuru?" The slightly amused voice of the girl still sat in her lap pulled her out of her thoughts and she looked at Natsuki's face. She hadn't been expecting the blunette to find that situation even the slightest bit funny, so her amusement was somewhat confusing. She raised her eyebrow at the still deeply blushing girl, who smiled at her,

"It's kind of weird to see you glaring like that" Natsuki chuckled lightly and Shizuru pouted, though she was actually extremely glad that the younger girl was acting this way, she'd thought that things would have been awkward for quite a bit longer, but the girl's amusement had easily broken the tension surrounding them.

"Natsuki ikezu! Calling me weird" Natsuki merely chuckled again before moving out of their embrace. Shizuru let her go; the moment was gone now anyway.

* * *

><p>Now settled on the bed with Shizuru behind her, an arm draped over stomach, Natsuki tried to focus on the DVD they were meant to be watching. She soon decided that she was fighting a losing battle though and gave into the thoughts swimming around her head.<p>

Shizuru seemed to be getting on with Anh pretty well... very well in fact, and the biker found that she wasn't sure how to feel about it. She'd thought that her girlfriend getting on with the flirtatious brunette would make her angry and possibly cause her to act negatively towards Shizuru. But, while their friendship _did _set her on edge somewhat, she wasn't reacting to it quite as violently as she'd been expecting.

Shizuru had shown no interest in anything but her since she'd arrived at the apartment and had all but dismissed the brunette completely. The Kyoto born had clearly shown who she would rather spend her time with.

So while thinking about Anh didn't exactly call up any positive emotions, she no longer felt as threatened by the woman. Although, she did acknowledge that her mind may not be working properly just yet. She could still be suffering the after effects of Shizuru's intimate actions...if one could really call it 'suffering'.

And, she knew that her feelings on the matter may well change if she was actually in the presence of the older woman. But, for now she was content ...except for one thing that _was_ bothering her a little.

Shizuru was going out later...with Anh...to a bar. While she did feel a bit more secure, the thought of Shizuru getting drunk with the tall brunette didn't exactly fill her with confident thoughts. And, it wasn't as if she only had Anh to worry about. They would be in a bar, full of drunken students who probably wanted nothing more than to get in to someone's pants.

She couldn't get out of the vicious circle of thoughts. No matter how many times she told herself that she trusted Shizuru, her mind always reminded her that even if that was the case, she couldn't trust the other people that the Kyoto born would be with. And, as she'd previously acknowledged; alcohol made people do things that they wouldn't usually.

She unconsciously shifted backwards a little, moving herself closer to the older girl,

"Natsuki?"

"Hmm?" She cringed when the clearly distracted response left her mouth and hoped that Shizuru would attribute it to her being immersed in the film... whatever it was.

"Are you alright?" The Kyoto born had lifted herself up slightly so she could see the side of Natsuki's face. The blunette cursed her mind for making her think negative thoughts,

"What time are you going out?"She was thankful that her voice sounded completely normal and didn't betray the fact that she was actually dreading leaving the apartment.

"In about 2 hours I think" Shizuru sounded a little distracted herself and Natsuki turned her head so she could see the Kyoto born in the corner of her eye,

"Okay...don't, um..." She struggled with her words, fighting with herself over whether to say something or not. Much to her confusion, Shizuru giggled,

"Natsuki" Her name was uttered softly, rather close to her ear "You don't need to worry about me getting too drunk, I'm not even planning on drinking" The biker released a breath she hadn't even realised she'd been holding and felt herself relax somewhat. She didn't even bother wondering how Shizuru had managed to figure out what she was trying to say, it was just one of those things that the older girl could do.

"Oh" She muttered, actually feeling a lot better with that piece of information in mind.

"Anyway, I don't think we will be out very long. Lu-san went out last night and was back in a hour" Shizuru paused to laugh lightly "She got so drunk that two of the boys from our floor had to drag her up the stairs" The mental image was enough to make Natsuki laugh lightly despite herself. _'Hah! Not so smooth now are you Lu!'_

"Those guys must have wanted something...there's no way in hell I would drag anyone up those stairs. Getting up them myself is bad enough" The biker said with a smirk,

"Ara, so Natsuki wouldn't help me up the stairs if I were drunk?" Shizuru had intended for her voice to convey some sort of faked sadness, but she was in too much of a good mood to really pull it off. Cuddling with Natsuki seemed to have that effect on her.

"You wouldn't ask for help anyway" Natsuki scoffed before continuing in an amused tone, "You wouldn't want to tarnish your perfect image, would you Kaichou-sama?" Shizuru swatted the younger girl's shoulder, which just got the girl to laugh lightly,

"If it meant that I got to hold onto my Natsuki I would" She tightened her hold on the biker, pressing their bodies further together to back up her point. She then snuggled her face into blue hair and sighed happily, a smile tugging at her lips. Natsuki just chuckled at the predictable response, knowing all too well that it was the truth.

She didn't feel the need to question the Kyoto born any further now, her anxiety having settled for the most part. She knew it wouldn't last but she was more than willing to make the most of any reprieve she got from the incessant worrying she'd been doing for the past couple of days.

She would deal with her issues pertaining to the violet eyed woman later; right now she was perfectly happy to enjoy watching a DVD with Shizuru's arms wrapped protectively around her.

* * *

><p>Natsuki sped down the streets of Fuuka, enjoying the way her surroundings seemed to blur together as her bike speedily carried her towards the school dorms.<p>

She'd spent the past half hour since leaving Shizuru's apartment just riding around town, something that she hadn't done in quite some time. She knew that she really needed to get back and finish up her homework, but she'd sincerely missed the adrenaline rush she got when riding her bike like this.

She fought the urge to make her way to the winding roads by the ocean, knowing full well that she would end up a familiar cliff and spend far too much time there. Besides, she only really visited the place she felt closest to her mother when her thoughts were particularly morbid, and right now, she was trying her hardest to stay positive.

So, with that in mind, she took the quickest route back to the dorms...maybe breaking a few speed related laws on her way.

The walk from where she kept her bike to her dorm room wasn't long, but it felt longer than it was due to the cold air, darkness and complete silence that surrounded her. She frowned when she came across the stairs leading to her room; she was developing a real hatred for steps. She made quick work of them though and soon found herself opening the apartment door.

She was met with glorious warmth and the smell of cooking ramen that made her mouth water. She made her way to the kitchen, where Mai greeted her with a wide smile,

"Hey, how's Kaichou-san?" Natsuki shrugged in her usual aloof manner,

"She's ok" Mai eyed the older girl in slight disbelief...Natsuki didn't seem to be as wound up as she had earlier that day, in fact, she seemed pretty laid back. She wondered if her blue haired friend had actually decided that she had nothing to worry about with Shizuru, which didn't really seem like a very Natsuki thing to do...at least not in such a short space of time. But, she wasn't going to complain, since as far as she was concerned, the blunette _didn't _have anything to worry about.

Natsuki plopped down onto the couch beside Mikoto, who was constantly looking over to the kitchen, no doubt eager to devour Mai's cooking. The blunette had to admit that she was looking forward to the meal herself, she hadn't realised how hungry she was but the smell of food had quickly woke her stomach.

While she waited for the food to be ready she played on the Xbox with Mikoto for a while, trying to relax as much as possible. Her priorities for the night were as follows; Eat, homework, sleep. And certainly _no _worrying about Shizuru and Anh...or anyone else for that matter. She trusted the Kyoto born and that was that. She had nothing to worry about.

* * *

><p>Natsuki furrowed her brows in confusion and irritation and an annoying sound pulled her from the abyss of sleep. She groaned, it couldn't possibly be morning already! She opened one eye ever so slightly and saw that it was still dark. A quick glance at the digital clock let her know that it was just after 3am. So, no, it wasn't morning.<p>

As her mind slowly regained focus she recognised the noise as her mobile phone ringing and scowled; who the hell would be ringing at this time of the night? _'It better not be Yuuki or I'm going to seriously pummel her'_

She waited for a moment, deciding whether or not to answer it, and idly hoping that her delay in doing so would make whoever it was give up. No such luck though as the device continued to assault her ears. When Mai grumbled Natsuki figured that she should probably just answer it. And so, after a short amount of searching, she held the device up to see who was calling; Shizuru.

She frowned deeply and her heart palpitated violently in her chest. Why would the Kyoto born be phoning her at 3 in the morning? It gave her uneasy feeling and she swallowed, her mouth suddenly feeling dry. Hesitantly, she answered the call,

"Shizuru?"

"_Natsuki...I...Kanin...Kanin na" _Shizuru was crying.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>I was ill and sleep deprived when I wrote half of this so I apologise if it's crammed full of mistakes/doesn't make sense *headdesk*

It really amused me to see that quite a few of you were genuinely worried that I would make Shizuru's other flatmate be Tomoe... how evil do you think I am?...although, the other flatmate is still illusive so who knows ;)

Reviews/concrit is always welcome and thanks for reading :) Till next time,

~IlliterateKoi~


	13. Deafening Silence

**Disclaimer:** I still_ don't_ own these characters, Sunrise still _does _own them.

**AN: **Ahaha, I see my cliff hanger had the desired effect :P your reactions to it were rather humorous for me to read, I was literally laughing to myself XD

Thank you for all the reviews! 131! *dies* They really do make me smile like a goon...or laugh as the case may be :D

Um, angst alert...I guess XP enjoy?

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><p>Barricade<p>

Chapter 13: Deafening Silence

"_Please explain why your silence makes more noise than thunder"_

* * *

><p>As Natsuki listened to Shizuru's sobbed apologies her heart dropped into her stomach. All traces of sleep had immediately disappeared and she suddenly felt sick.<p>

"_Kanin na..."_ She screwed her eyes closed tightly in an attempt to block out all the unpleasant thoughts she associated with Shizuru sounding as she did right now. Her words echoed of things said during the Carnival and the sudden assault of negative emotion threatened to overwhelm her. She gripped the phone tightly, bordering on painfully, in an attempt to calm herself down.

This wasn't happening. It couldn't be... surely her mind was just jumping to conclusions because of her current insecurities...there was no way it had actually happened...Shizuru wouldn't have done something to harm their relationship. She wouldn't have cheated...would she?

Ignoring the less than pleasant explanations her mind provided for Shizuru's behaviour, she instead focused on what she actually knew for a fact; Shizuru was upset. She needed to find out the cause before she could plan her next move.

"Shizuru, what's wrong?" Her voice was strangely calm, almost eerily so, and it seemed to echo around the darkened dorm room. Her question only seemed to make the older girl cry harder and she clenched her eyes shut against the sound before speaking again, "Shizuru, please tell me"

"_Natsuki...I...I'm..." _When it became evident that the Kyoto born couldn't speak through her incessant sobs Natsuki made a decision,

"I'm coming round. I'll be 10 minutes" She didn't wait for a reply; she could listen to those heart wrenching sobs anymore. She threw her phone onto her bed and immediately started pulling on the nearest clothes she could find. Her heart was beating madly in her chest, violently pumping the blood around her body and making it throb loudly in her ears.

Unwanted images of Shizuru with someone else flashed through her mind and she grit her teeth as she pulled on her jeans. Who would Shizuru have done something with anyway?...Anh?...Someone from the bar? She wasn't sure which made her feel worse, the thought of Shizuru being with some random or someone she knew. Either way she would punch their fucking teeth out if they were still around when she got to the apartment. And if they weren't there she would track them down.

The rapid tempo of her heart coupled with the adrenaline rushing through her system was making her feel a little dizzy. She needed to calm down. She didn't know that Shizuru had even done anything yet. She should trust that the Kyoto born _hadn't _done anything to betray her.

"Natsuki? Are you alright? What's going on?" She jumped as the voice cut through the panicky bubble she'd unwittingly surrounded herself with. She turned to face her roommate, who was peering at her through the darkness. Despite the dim lighting Natsuki could see the concern etched into her friend's features. She ran a shaky hand through her hair,

"I-I don't know" The calmness that her voice had possessed moments earlier was gone and her words now sounded unsure and anxious. Mai untangled herself from Mikoto and padded over as Natsuki quickly pulled her hooded top over her head and started to search for her bike keys.

"Did something happen to Kaichou-san?" The worry was clear in the red heads voice, despite the fact that she was speaking barely above a whisper. Natsuki grabbed her keys off the kitchen side, she hadn't even heard the other girl's question; the thoughts buzzing around her head were making far too much noise. She was about to head for the door when a hand on her shoulder stopped her. She cast an almost pleading look at the violet eyed girl,

"Mai I need to go" The younger girl nodded, and then seemingly ignored her words by pulling her into a tight embrace. The biker stiffened at the contact but didn't pull away. The action actually managed to calm her somewhat and she realised that that had probably been her friend's intention. Panicking wasn't going to help anybody.

Mai released her and after a few moments she handed the older girl her previously discarded mobile,

"Phone if you need me" Natsuki nodded and gave her friend the best smile she could muster in thanks, which was little more than a twitch of her lips. She then hastily grabbed her leather jacket and made her way out of the apartment, heading towards her bike.

Her legs were shaking slightly as she made her way down the stairs and she worried for a moment that they would give out, thankfully they didn't, and she was soon speed walking through the school grounds. Her body complained against the sudden exercise so soon after waking up but she ignored it and zipped her jacket up to fend off the cold night air.

When she reached her bike she quickly mounted it and pulled on her helmet. The engine roared to life seconds later, the sound cutting through the otherwise silent air as she sped off campus, her body working on autopilot to take her towards Shizuru's apartment complex.

Her thoughts were racing a mile a minute and she had to force herself to focus on her driving, lest she end up losing her balance and getting herself killed. Her brain wouldn't stop bombarding her with questions and assumptions though and she grit her teeth as the unpleasant feeling in the pit of her stomach intensified.

Shizuru had sounded so guilty, and her apologies left little room to the imagination. The Kyoto born had obviously done something that warranted an immediate apology, and whatever it was had clearly evoked a strong sense of remorse in the older girl.

She unconsciously increased her speed, buildings now blurring together and the whipping sound of her hair as it flew around her helmet grew slightly more violent. She didn't want to think about what Shizuru might have done, she didn't want to jump to conclusions.

Her first point of call should be worrying about Shizuru, not what she had done. Something could have happened to her...though if that was the case why would the older girl feel the need to apologise for it? The sound of Shizuru's sobbed apologies were echoing around her head and she clenched her jaw a little tighter against the wave of emotion that surged through her.

The last, and only, time she'd heard Shizuru sound like that was at the end of the Carnival, just after they'd been resurrected. Seeing her friend break down had been difficult to say the least, but she'd had to deal with it quickly, they had to destroy the HiME star after all. She'd pushed all the emotion and discomfort to the back of her mind so she could focus on the upcoming task.

But afterwards, when everything had settled down, she'd been haunted by her friends guilt ridden voice. Hearing that same tone again was dragging up too many painful thoughts and memories.

She jumped off her bike almost before it came to a stop outside the complex and quickly secured it before making her way through the stone archway and to the large door that lead to the stairway. She took the steps two at a time while thoughts continued to whip around her head loudly.

Part of her was really hoping that this had something to do with the Carnival. It was familiar territory and the possible alternative explanation made her feel sick. The very thought of Shizuru having done something...with someone else...It made her heart clench painfully and her temper rise to unprecedented highs.

She knew that she wouldn't be able to deal with it. One of the main reasons she preferred to keep her distance from people was because she didn't want to trust them. If she trusted somebody she gave them power over her; gave them the ability to seriously hurt her. With her Mother selling her to Searrs and her Father abandoning her, one of her biggest fears was being betrayed.

Despite her gallant efforts to keep people at bay, Shizuru had wormed her way into her heart and she _knew _that she wouldn't be able to cope with it if the Kyoto born had done something to betray her trust. Trust that certainly hadn't come easy to her.

Even with her hoping that the cause _was _the Carnival, she wasn't really ready to deal with that either. It was all still too raw, too vivid in her mind, and her emotions relating to everything that had happened were still intense and difficult to deal with.

Her thighs were burning as usual when she reached the top floor but she ignored it and instead took quick strides until she reached Shizuru apartment. Her hand rose to knock against the door but she stopped herself. She was too worked up, too panicky, and she knew that if she went in there now she would probably hinder rather than help the situation.

She tried to clear her mind of all the thoughts swarming her and willed her heart to stop thumping so violently against her ribcage. She inhaled deeply and held her breath for a moment before releasing it shakily. She repeated the action a few more times while closing her eyes to collect herself. She wanted to go in there with her mind a clean slate. She would listen to what Shizuru said before drawing conclusions. She could do this.

Despite her mostly successful attempts to calm herself, the adrenaline still rushing through her system meant that her hand was still trembling when she lifted it to rap lightly against the door.

Her heart was still beating loudly in her ears as she waited for the door to open, and when it did, her throat tightened uncomfortably and she was forced to hold her breath. Shizuru had her head bowed down, her eyes hidden behind chestnut bangs. The hand that wasn't holding the door open was wrapped around the older girl's body in an attempt at self-comfort and Natsuki felt a painful pang in her chest.

There was no light coming from inside the apartment and the image of Shizuru standing there, illuminated only by the dim lighting from the hallway, made Natsuki feel incredibly lonely for some reason.

More than anything she wanted Shizuru to look at her, but her eyes remained hidden, and she was soon staring at the older girl's back as she turned and headed back into the dark apartment. The blunette stood in the doorway for a moment, swallowing with difficulty as all moisture seemed to have vanished from her mouth. After a moment, she closed the apartment door quietly and walked after Shizuru, who had disappeared into her room.

She paused at the bedroom door, her eyes falling on her girlfriend's form, which was outlined by the blue hue the moon cast into the room through the window. Shizuru was sat on her bed, her back leaning against the wall by the window, her eyes still hidden.

The younger girl shuffled forward, her slow, hesitant footsteps sounding incredibly loud in the otherwise silent room. She stopped short of the bed and stood there for a moment awkwardly. She wished that Shizuru would say something, in fact, she would have preferred the older girl to be crying and apologising again rather than just sitting there mutely.

She exhaled shakily before gathering herself and sitting on the edge of the bed, facing the Kyoto born slightly. For a long while they sat in complete silence and Natsuki grew more uncomfortable by the second. Moments earlier she'd been panicking and rushing to get to the apartment and now she was sat in the suffocating calmness of Shizuru's bedroom. The sudden change in atmosphere had left her feeling confused and she wasn't sure what to do.

She tried to swallow the lump that was steadily forming in her throat before speaking,

"Shizuru?" Her voice sounded forced and awkward but she ignored it, her attention focused solely on the still mute girl next to her. The Kyoto born's inactivity was beginning to get to her; the way she wouldn't look at her was setting her on edge.

"Shizuru, what's going on?" She saw the older girl's hands clench into fists on her thighs, bunching up the fabric of her robe. The outward display that something was obviously wrong made the younger girl feel even more tense. The seconds dragged out before Shizuru finally spoke,

"Natsuki...I..." Her voice was hoarse through crying and she turned her head to the side, hiding her face completely from the biker, her next sentence was a mere whisper and Natsuki only just caught it, "How can you trust me?"

Natsuki's brow furrowed as she took in the question, the mention of trust did not sound promising. How was she meant to answer a question like that though?

"What?" The word came out a little harsher than she'd meant it to, but Shizuru's refusal to look at her was indicative of guilt and it was beginning to make the unpleasant feeling her stomach grow.

"I've proven myself to be undeserving of your trust and yet...you continue to trust me anyway" Shizuru tone was void of emotion and it stirred painful memories. She clenched her own fists now, her fingernails digging into her palms,

"Shizuru, what's going on? What's happened?" One of the things that she'd always disliked about the older girl was her tendency to evade questions when she wanted to. It really wasn't helping right now and she was growing more agitated by the second.

"Why are you with me Natsuki?" Once again she was answered by a question, one that threw her completely. Shizuru's tone had been borderline hostile and it sent her into a bout of concerned confusion. First Shizuru was crying, then silent, and now she was angry? What the hell was going on?

"What do you me-"

"Why haven't you ever asked what I did to you?" The older girl cut her off and Natsuki's eyebrows knitted together in further confusion. Shizuru's train of thought seemed to be switching at random and it was a worrying hint at her current state of mind. Then she understood what Shizuru was referring to and her entire body tensed.

"What's brought this on?" Two could play at the evasion game. This wasn't a topic that she wanted to breach; she wasn't ready to deal with the reality of what Yukino had caught Shizuru doing. Just thinking about the subject made her feel vulnerable and it was not something she dealt with well, "Damn it Shizuru, talk to me!" She snapped harshly, causing the Kyoto born to flinch.

In the aftermath of her comparatively loud words, the oppressive atmosphere crushed down on her and she suddenly felt trapped. She couldn't sit so close to the older girl right now, her emotions were going haywire and she could feel herself starting to panic.

She got up off the bed and started pacing, her breathing erratic as she desperately tried to calm herself. The constant bursts of different emotion was overwhelming and she could feel her entire body shaking. She pulled the chair out from under the desk and sat in it, burying her head in her hands.

Memories of the Carnival assaulted her already stressed mind and she screwed her eyes closed in an attempt to shut them out. It didn't work.

_Staring into the smug eyes of Mr. Smith as he told her of her mother's betrayal. The rain pounding down on her, bouncing off her leathers and making her hair stick to her skin while her heart clenched painfully in her chest. _

_The wheels of her motorbike struggling to find grip on the water slickened roads as she raced across their winding surface, the ocean crashing against the cliff face. Her heartbeat raging in her ears as the sting of her mother's betrayal started to sink in. _

_The glint of a trap, laid out by one Yuuki Nao, that she saw far too late. Hurtling through the air and landing with a resounding thud on the tarmac. Her cracked visor framing her attacker's sneer as she drifted from consciousness. _

_The ocean spraying her with tiny pellets of salt water as her arms were rendered useless by cobweb like restraints. The sharp, piercing sensation of Nao's clawed finger digging into the flesh above her left eye. _

_Being saved by Shizuru and waking in an unfamiliar tea house. Crying over the memory of her mother's deceit, as kind but masked eyes watched over her. Speaking words of affection for the first time since her mother's death and truly meaning them. _

_Waking to the sound of vaguely familiar voices and overhearing a conversation relating to her and the apparent betrayal of her best friend. The flash of Shizuru's naginata and the utterance of Kiyohime's name, followed by the appearance of the hydra and her friends decent into terrifying insanity. _

She clenched her jaw tightly in an attempt to ground herself. There was a memory mixed in with the others that did not belong there. They were all less than pleasant, but one of them in particular, should not have felt that way. She'd told Shizuru that she loved her. And while she'd meant it differently back then, there was no getting away from the fact that she truly did love the Kyoto born.

And she realised that whatever the older girl had done, she _wanted _to forgive her for it. She wanted to hold onto Shizuru and tell her that she was forgiven. She didn't want to lose what she had only just begun to understand because of something that had happened under extreme circumstances.

Of course, her feelings only really pertained to the events of the Carnival. If the Kyoto born had done anything else to break her trust since then...she wasn't sure what she would do. But, either way, the least she owed the older girl was a chance to explain herself.

As her mind started to clear a little and she felt herself calming down, an unpleasantly familiar noise met her ears. She lifted her head and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness again.

Shizuru had her head buried in her hands, much like she'd been doing herself seconds earlier. The sound of her muffled sobs made Natsuki's heart clench painfully and she chewed her lip absently. She couldn't stand seeing Shizuru like this and it instantly called forth her need to comfort the chestnut haired girl.

She understood that her reaction had probably been the cause of Shizuru's new bout of tears and she berated herself for it. With a shaky but calming breath, she slowly moved from the chair and knelt in front of the bed. Hesitantly, she reached out and after a short period of hovering, gently placed her hands on the older girl's legs.

The unexpected contact made Shizuru jump and she tore her hands away from her face to see intense emeralds staring straight at her. The maelstrom of emotion she could see swirling in the younger girl's eyes made her feel like shrinking into a corner and she suddenly wished that she could move away.

The blunette's reaction had been exactly the type of behaviour she'd feared receiving from the girl, and it was more than obvious that Natsuki wasn't ready to deal with the issue. But, she couldn't hold it in any longer, it was tearing her apart and she knew that she wouldn't be able to suppress the memories anymore.

Natsuki felt her stomach twist painfully as she took in Shizuru's face. The trails of moisture on the girl's cheeks reflected in the moonlight, physical evidence of her tears, and her eyes were so full of guilt and fear that the younger girl almost couldn't breathe. Shizuru was scared. Of losing her or _of_ her? Or perhaps herself?

"Shizuru...I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to act like that" Her voice cracked under the emotion she was feeling and she tried to swallow it down, "_Please, _tell me what's going on" The was a sense of desperation in her voice that she would have found pathetic at any other time, but right now, she _was _desperate.

If they were going to get anywhere, Natsuki needed to know what was going on. She would deal with the problems created by the Carnival if that was what Shizuru needed. But, if this had all been caused by something else... she felt her anger rear its head again and she had to forcibly stop herself from pulling away from the older girl.

Shizuru tried desperately to form a response, but the memories incessantly bombarding her rendered her voice useless. The flash of anger she'd just seen in Natsuki's expression made it feel like there was a weight pressing down on her chest and she found it difficult to breath. All she could do was clench her eyes shut again, forcing more tears to roll down her face.

Natsuki surveyed the older girl's expression as it tensed against a torrent of emotion. She knew that she would have to be the one to move this along, so despite her own growing fear of the answer, she asked,

"Is this all about the Carnival?" She held her breath as she waited for a response. Shizuru turned her head to the side and grabbed fistfuls of the bed sheets, her knuckles turning white. Natsuki released her breath, seeing Shizuru like this was distressing and she was now fighting the urge to comfort her girlfriend. But, the older girl's response hadn't answered her question and she urged the Kyoto born to look at her by applying more pressure to her legs, "Shizuru, please, I need to know"

Shizuru locked her watery crimson gaze to hers and after a moment, nodded solemnly, her expression mask-less and completely open, letting Natsuki know that she was being honest. A wave of dizzying relief hit the younger girl like a physical force and she slumped backwards to sit on the floor. The relief didn't last long; now that the issue had been confirmed, she had to deal with it.

The knowledge that she wasn't going to have to deal with a new betrayal had lessened the compression on her chest, but...she now had to deal with a past betrayal. She shifted from her position and moved to sit next to the Kyoto born, her eyes downcast as she dug up the courage to breach the uncomfortable topic that had been subtly hanging over them since it occurred.

"Shizuru, what..." she tried to swallow the lump in her throat, her heart beat thumping in her ears "what did you do to me?" She thought she felt the older girl flinch at her question, but with the way her own body was shaking she couldn't be sure.

It took a moment for Shizuru to gather herself enough to speak. Her throat was uncomfortably tight and the air had been knocked out of her lungs, leaving her feeling light headed and dizzy. Her heartbeat was thundering in her ears, its rhythm erratic, and she couldn't bring herself to look at the girl beside her. Guilt and shame panged through her as she finally found her voice,

"I lay next to you, naked...I knew that it was wrong but I...I tou-" Shizuru's voice cracked before she could get her words out but Natsuki could easily finish the confession. She was relatively surprised when her reaction was one of simple acknowledgment rather than a feeling of betrayal. Perhaps her previous words of forgiveness had been deeper than she'd thought.

She supposed though, she had already accepted that Shizuru had touched her, she just didn't know where and to what extent. She still didn't, and she quickly realised that that was the real issue. The room was starting to feel uncomfortable again, the atmosphere pressing down on her. The vulnerability she'd felt earlier was back and she struggled to control her emotions.

"Where?" Her voice was steadier than she'd expected it to be and she suspected that it was an unconscious effort on her part to hide her weakness. When no words were forthcoming from the older girl her heart started to pound almost painfully against her rib cage again, the violent movements making her feel sick.

Shizuru was having a similar reaction. She wanted to speak, knowing that her silence would not give a good indication of her actions, but she was struggling to find the right words. Words that could very well mean the loss of the one thing that mattered most to her.

But there were no right words. There was nothing right about what she'd done at all. How did you tell someone, someone that you loved, where you had touched them without their consent? When they had been vulnerable, and you'd known that they would not accept such actions had they been able to protest. When they had trusted you despite their misgivings on the trustworthiness of others.

"Show me" Her eyes widened and she snapped her gaze to the younger girl's. She was met by a fierce look of determination and her heart, which had been drumming violently a moment ago, seemed to stop abruptly.

"W-what?" Surely she had misunderstood Natsuki's words. She couldn't possibly mean what she thought she did. Her heart started to pound again.

"Show me what you did" The girl's emerald eyes were hard with resolve and it was more than clear that she was prepared for whatever Shizuru did. The Kyoto born was sure that her heart was about to explode, its tempo had been erratic for so long now that it seemed like the only natural conclusion. Her stomach tied itself into knots as she contemplated Natsuki's words.

Her throat was uncomfortably tight and it felt like there was a golf ball lodged there, preventing any sound from escaping. And even if she could...she had already established that she wouldn't be able to find the words to explain her actions. If speech really wasn't an option then she had no choice.

She swallowed thickly, her heartbeat maintaining its violent rhythm. She raised her arm slowly, her gaze locked with Natsuki's. Her movements were purposely slow, giving the younger girl the chance to change her mind. She watched as Natsuki's expression slowly became unreadable, as if she were pulling a mask up to conceal any fear or discomfort.

When she felt the warmth of Natsuki's cheek beneath her fingers she had to force herself not to pull away. Her hand faltered for a moment as she forced herself to maintain eye contact. Natsuki's expression didn't so much as twitch as her fingers slowly trailed down to her neck.

She paused there for a moment to gather her nerves and composure. She could feel the younger girl's pulse beneath her fingertips, its rhythm harsh and unsteady, a stark contrast to the girl's face, which was void of any distinguishable emotion.

With a shaky breath she let her fingers trail down again until they came to a stop on the girl's sternum, dangerously close to her left breast. She swallowed in an attempt to rid herself of the horrible taste she could feel forming in her mouth,

"I...I kissed you here" Her voice was thick with regret and she held her breath in an attempt to control the fear she was feeling. She wanted to close her eyes, to hide from the unreadable emeralds staring at her, but she couldn't. Tears fell down her face but she ignored them as Natsuki seemed to search her expression.

"Anything else that I don't already know about?" Her voice was so calm and steady that it scared Shizuru further and she trembled. She finally released her breath, feeling dizzy,

"No, apart from the kiss...nothing else, I promise" her voice was shaky and pleading, begging Natsuki to believe her. She couldn't look at the girl anymore, the fear of rejection and the pain crushing her chest becoming too much. She clenched her eyes shut and withdrew her hand.

Before she could fully pull it back to her side though, it was halted in its retreat by one of Natsuki's hands and pulled back to its previous position. Her eyes shot open and she regarded the younger girl with a mixture of confusion and shock.

Natsuki's expression had softened, her eyes were watery with unshed tears and there was an undeniable swirl of sorrow and pain in their emerald depths...but there was also something akin to tenderness.

"I forgive you" Natsuki's voice was so sincere it caused a fresh wave of tears to flow down the older girl's face and drip onto the bed sheets. As the meaning behind the words sunk in her body shook violently, the walls that she'd barely been able to keep up crumbled around her and the control she had over her emotions vanished.

A sob tore itself from her throat, leading the way for others as unprecedented relief washed over her. She wrapped her free arm around herself in a self-hug, needing something to ground herself from the unrelenting torrent of emotion.

This hadn't seemed like a plausible outcome to her. As far as she was concerned, where she had touched the girl was of no importance. She had encroached upon Natsuki's person for her own selfish reasons. And yet, the younger girl had forgiven her...it was almost cruel how kind she was.

She soon found herself being pulled into a strong embrace, protective arms holding her tightly, almost desperately. She clung to the front of Natsuki's jacket as sobs continued to rack through her.

"Natsuki...Natsuki...I..."

"Shh, It's alright. You're forgiven. It's okay" Natsuki's voice was rough and scratchy, evidence of her own emotional state as she cradled the crying girl.

She'd been stunned by Shizuru's confession. She hadn't expected something so...tender. What the Kyoto born had done was wrong yes, but her actions had been those of somebody who was desperately in love. To kiss her above where her heart was... it was almost heartbreaking to think about just how Shizuru must have been feeling at that time.

She'd been repressing her feelings for so long, and under the threat of losing her most important person it was little wonder that she'd acted the way she had. The fear of losing the person you love is an all consuming thing and it drives you to do things you would never usually consider. Natsuki understood that to a certain extent now.

In the end, she could do nothing but forgive Shizuru. Her inability to see that her best friend was clearly suffering because of her feelings was ultimately what lead to the girls breakdown. If she had paid a little more attention to the one person that had stuck by her she may have been able to prevent such events from happening. It would have been unfair of her to hold this against Shizuru when the girl had merely been overpowered by long-suppressed emotion at a time of extreme stress.

Natsuki held Shizuru until her sobs turned into mere hiccups, and then stopped all together. The grip the Kyoto born had on her jacket kept loosening and suddenly tightening again and she realised that the girl was fighting sleep. She manoeuvred Shizuru slowly until she was under the bed sheets, but the older girl still refused to let go of her jacket.

"Don't leave, please" The pleading tone in the whispered request caused the lump in Natsuki's throat to return "Don't leave" She wasn't planning on going anywhere but she didn't really want to sleep in her clothes. She had little choice in the matter though as Shizuru begged her to stay again.

She managed to untangle herself just enough to remove her jacket and shoes but then quickly climbed in next to the Kyoto born, who instantly latched onto her and buried her face into her neck. She held Shizuru tightly, needing some comfort herself.

She could feel moisture gathering on her neck and realised that Shizuru was still crying intermittently. She rubbed the girl's back soothingly, hoping that it would lure her to sleep, knowing that Shizuru must be as emotionally exhausted as she was, if not more so.

She knew that they would likely have more talking to do when they woke up, but for now, she needed to sleep.

* * *

><p>Shizuru woke up surrounded by the presence of her most important person, and for a moment it filled her with panic. Memories of the nightmare that had plagued her the night before, that had lead to her very nearly breaking down, flashed before her and she struggled to control her breathing.<p>

With an unsteady breath she pulled back slightly and came face to face with a still sleeping Natsuki. Their proximity was making her feel somewhat nervous, what with their earlier issue so vivid in her mind, and she had to stop herself from pulling away completely.

The Carnival was over. Natsuki had forgiven her.

Her body slowly relaxed and she allowed herself to enjoy the embrace while her eyes flitted over her girlfriend's features. Natsuki didn't look as peaceful as one would have expected the sleeping girl to, and Shizuru felt a swell of guilt return to her.

She suspected that the younger girl's sleeping mind was trying to sift through and sort recent memories, which would no doubt be less than pleasant.

She'd known that bringing up the Carnival would be difficult for the younger girl to deal with. She presumed that all the other HiME had their demons to face too and she sure as hell did. Getting what she had done to Natsuki off her chest had been incredibly liberating, but there were other topics that needed addressing. And she suspected that it was those issues the younger girl would really have trouble with facing.

She was terrified of dealing with it herself, but her nightmare had burst through the wall she'd encased the memories in and she could no longer ignore or play them down. She needed to talk about it. She was not stupid enough to believe that mere words would completely eradicate her guilt, she doubted that it would ever truly leave her for good, but perhaps it would make things easier. She jumped as a shrill beeping sound met her ears and something vibrated against her leg.

Natsuki grumbled, her eyebrows furrowing deeply as she was roused from her short slumber. Her hand quickly snaked down under the covers, into her jeans pocket, and pulled out her mobile to shut off the alarm. Time for school.

It didn't take long for her remember where she was and what had happened a few hours ago. Once she realised that her free arm was still wrapped around Shizuru's body she pulled her closer and buried her face into soft chestnut hair. She really didn't want to leave the Kyoto born right now, but she had to.

She opened her eyes and moved back a bit to be met by mildly amused crimson, no doubt due to her previous snuggling. There was still a lot of negative emotion swirling in Shizuru's eyes though, and she understood that the older girl was still very much lost in memories of the Carnival.

She wanted more than anything to stay with Shizuru and sort things out. Despite the fact that Shizuru was far more important than her studies in her opinion, she knew that she couldn't afford to miss her extra classes. No doubt the Kyoto born would only feel guilty about it anyway. At least today was the last full day of lessons, the rest of the week was for studying and taking exams...which wasn't really much better than being at school all day really.

She slowly untangled herself from the older girl, who surprisingly let her go without much of a fight.

"I'll be back later" She said through a yawn while shrugging her jacket over her shoulders. Shizuru nodded and watched the younger girl pull on her shoes. Just when she thought that Natsuki would leave, the blunette made her way back over to the bed and bent down towards her with a small, almost sad smile, "Don't stay in bed all day" A quick kiss was then placed on her lips before the biker exited the room and soon the apartment.

Leaving Shizuru to her thoughts.

* * *

><p>After rushing back to the dorms to get changed Natsuki had made it to her classes, though she soon realised that it was pointless her even being there. She couldn't concentrate on what the teacher was saying at all, her thoughts were constantly wandering to the conversation she knew she was going to have later with Shizuru.<p>

About _her _guilt.

Despite knowing that everyone had played their part in the chaos that was the Carnival, she felt like her role had been somewhat different. Everyone had been driven at least close to insanity and all they wanted was to protect their most important person. The safety of other peoples most important person was of no concern and their already fragile friendships had been stretched to breaking point.

But Natsuki hadn't really been part of that. She hadn't wanted to get involved with the whole 'I will protect my important person no matter what!' thing. She hadn't really needed to. Because as far as she was concerned, her most important person was already dead so it didn't matter to her.

That had changed though. Because before she knew it she'd realised who her most important person _really _was. It wasn't her mother, but Shizuru. And this was where Natsuki felt she differed from the other HiME. Because, she didn't fight for or protect her most important person. She killed her.

And unlike the others she could not blame that action on the Obsidian Prince or the power of the HiME star, because she had quite consciously made the decision to do it. She had set out to kill Shizuru that day, there were no two ways about it.

"Kuga-san" She came out of her daze at her name being called out...by the less than amused looking teacher at the front of the class.

"What?" Crap...she hadn't meant to sound so argumentative! The balding male teacher frowned at her,

"Pay attention please" She folded her arms across her chest but nodded. She spent the next few hours valiantly trying to concentrate on her studies and by the time lunch rolled around she was exhausted. She'd gotten very little sleep the night before and the constant waves of memories and emotions were proving to be incredibly draining.

She now sat on one of the many grass covered slopes surrounding the school, enjoying the way the cool air helped fight off the muggy feeling in her head. It was a warm day and there were birds chirping merrily in nearby trees, but Natsuki was oblivious to them.

"Wow, you look like shit" An annoyingly familiar voice decided to inform her. She didn't bother turning to face the girl who sat beside her.

"Thanks" She uttered, really not wanting to get into a verbal slanging match with Nao while her emotions were running so high, lest she unintentionally say something out of order and actually damage their somewhat fragile friendship.

"What's up with you mutt?" She grit her teeth at the nickname/insult and turned to glare at the girl...only to find that the smirk she'd been expecting to see wasn't there. In its place was a somewhat serious and mildly concerned expression and she suddenly wondered if she'd accidentally wandered into an alternate universe.

Nao eyed the older girl, she was not stupid enough to aggravate the biker right now; she could tell that something serious was going on inside that head of hers. Natsuki thinking was dangerous in and of itself.

"Nothing" Came the expected response and Nao shrugged. If Natsuki didn't want her help she wasn't going to complain...though it was somewhat disconcerting to see that weird look in her emerald eyes. Not to mention the fact that it looked like the blunette hadn't slept for a couple of days.

"You sure?" The question left her mouth before she could stop it and, in an attempt to cover up her concern, she plastered a completely uninterested look on her face while pretending to text on her mobile.

"Yeah" Natsuki practically sighed and Nao frowned, that wasn't very Kuga-like. Usually the older girl would have been suspicious of her subtle concern for her well being. She wondered if something had happened with Shizuru and the flatmate Natsuki had been worried about...

"Did something happen with Fujino?" The ex-Kaichou's name still felt a bit odd on her tongue but she ignored it. To her surprise and further confusion, Natsuki sighed again before tilting her head back to squint up at the sky.

"Did you kill anyone during the Carnival?" The red head raised an eyebrow at the question, where the hell had that come from? She put her phone away and felt her mood grow slightly sombre,

"No, why?" Natsuki nodded, her eyes shifting from the clouds to the younger girl's face. She shrugged slightly as she answered

"I've never asked you before" Nao could feel her confusion growing and decided to redirect the question at the biker,

"What about you? Did you kill anyone?" The red head was probably one of the least informed about what had happened between the HiME when things got really bad, mostly because she had been hiding and plotting in the background. She didn't really know who had killed who.

Natsuki made a noise that the younger girl took to mean 'yes' and her eyes returned to the sky again, her brow creased in a slight frown. Nao felt a little awkward, she didn't really like talking about the Carnival, nor was she very good at consoling people, so the two combined made her flounder for a moment. After a little while she asked,

"Who?" It took Natsuki less than a second to answer,

"Shizuru" Lime green eyes widened in shock; she hadn't been expecting that. Natsuki had killed Shizuru? Something about that scenario just didn't seem right. Yes, Natsuki had protected her from the psychotic Kyoto born and pointed her guns at the girl, but...actually killing her? She just couldn't see it.

However, she knew that the older girl wouldn't lie about something like that...and the guilty expression on her face left little room to question her honesty. But...what was she meant to say to that...was she _meant_ to say anything?

"And myself" The blunette added and it took Nao a quick moment to piece the information together. It wasn't difficult really; Natsuki was dating Shizuru now so it made it pretty obvious that they had been each other's most important person.

Natsuki looked at her and she froze. _'Come on Yuuki...think of something to say!...like what? Oh, that's great! I never liked the Kyoto witch anyway!...I don't think that would go down well...or maybe; she was freaking batshit crazy! She would have probably killed everybody! So what choice did you have?...urgh, why the hell did I even get involv...wait...'_

"Well, she was crazy right?" Natsuki's eyebrow rose slightly but she nodded, "If you hadn't stopped her, I'm pretty she was strong enough to take down the other HiME" She swallowed; she knew all too well what terrifying strength the Kyoto born had possessed. After a moment she continued,

"If it'd only been you and her left in the end, what would have happened?" The blunette gave her a blank look and she sighed before continuing "There wouldn't have been a 'winner'" A look of understanding crossed Natsuki's face,

"Right...only one HiME could win...so if me and Shizuru had been the only two left...we both would have died and the Carnival wouldn't have ended" The biker had never even thought of that before...it was certainly a strange way to look at it but it did make sense in a round about way.

"So, basically if you hadn't killed Fujino, we'd all be dead right now" Nao said almost offhandedly. Of course her words were only her opinion, and her view of the Kyoto born's strength may have been somewhat biased...she had been on the receiving end of it after all.

But, she didn't think that it was such a large stretch in reality. Kiyohime had easily matched Kagutsuchi in size if nothing else, and since a child's size directly correlated with its strength she didn't think it too farfetched to think that Shizuru may have been able to defeat Mai.

"Yeah, I guess you're right" Natsuki didn't sound any more enthused than she had before and Nao wondered if her words had had any impact whatsoever...not that she cared of course "Thanks" There was sincerity in the word and gratitude in Natsuki's eyes. It seemed like even though her words hadn't really quelled any worries the older girl had, she was genuinely thankful that she'd at least tried. Nao felt her heart jump suddenly, which was... strange.

"Anyway, I'd better get back" Natsuki stood and dusted off her skirt before turning and heading towards the school building "Later"

"Yeah..." Nao muttered, still feeling odd and a little confused. What the hell was that weird ass feeling in her gut?

She watched her friend leave with a slight frown. She sighed slightly and after cursing under her breath, stood up and made her way back to her own classes. _'Damn Kuga and her issues'_

* * *

><p>Shizuru took a sip from her tea only to find that it was cold...again. She was on her third cup, and hadn't yet managed to finish one while it was still hot. She was sat in the living room, the sound of a ticking clock the only noise breaking the silence.<p>

She hadn't seen Anh all day, but since the brunette had gotten on pretty well with some random girl at the bar the night before Shizuru could guess why. She wasn't sure whether she was grateful or not for her flatmate's absence. She could have done with some company really, and Anh's antics may have cheered her up somewhat, or at least distracted her from her thoughts.

But, she was well aware that the violet eyed woman may also have just gotten on her nerves with her inappropriate jokes and actions. When her mind was filled with scenes of violence and murder, someone who acted like the world was absolutely perfect probably wouldn't make the best company.

With no distractions though, her mind drifted back to her nightmare. She couldn't believe that a simple nightmare had caused such distress, not just for her, but for Natsuki as well. But, it had all felt so real, like she was actually back there, repeating the actions, and she'd been unable to stop it, just like she'd been unable to stop it the first time around.

_Haruka's quickly muffled shout. Her heart stopping and starting violently as her mask threatened to slip. The blond haired girl's words about Natsuki as her mind started to shatter. Pointing her naginata at Haruka. The wind whipping violently around them and leaves fluttering past her face._

_Natsuki appearing and her heart sinking into her stomach as she realised the girl had heard their conversation. Natsuki recoiling from her touch._

"_NO!" _

_A lone tear streaking down her face as the chains of her sanity buckled. Haruka stupidly grabbing her naginata like it was a toy. _

"_Kiyohime" _

_Ignoring Natsuki's pleas for her to stop. Green sparks raining down on them, evidence of Diana's defeat. Haruka's last ditch attempt to gain some ground by head butting her. Her own dark chuckle as Yukino wept over the loss of her best friend. _

_And finally, admitting her long-suppressed feelings as the last shred of her sanity faded. _

She continued to sit in the silent room, motionless and completely unaware of her surroundings as her mind poured over the frightening events.

After the confrontation with Yukino and Haruka her memories all blurred together, giving them a strange dream like feel. Though she knew them to be reality. Flashes of horrified and petrified faces, blood and fire pulsed through her mind.

The whooshing sound of her naginata as it ripped through the air and into flesh, crushing bones and severing limbs, while Kiyohime lingered in the background, pulverising and obliterating anything she left untouched.

And throughout it all, she hadn't felt a thing. No remorse, no pity and certainly no compassion. She still didn't know how long her murderous rampage had lasted, she'd just felt a strange pull leading her to each subsequent victim and followed it.

That same invisible pull had brought her to Natsuki's apartment, where Nao had camped out to ambush the blue haired HiME. As with Diana, Julia stood no chance against Kiyohime and was easily defeated, green flecks signifying the death of the red head's comatose mother.

But the destruction of Nao's Child had not seemed enough. The need to kill the young girl had her muscles moving of their own accord...until Natsuki stopped her. She remembered feeling some twisted sense of happiness that Natsuki's powers had returned and saying something along those lines to the determined girl, before dropping off the side of the building and onto Kiyohime.

The next thing she knew she was sat in the student council room sipping tea like everything was perfectly alright. Which is so obviously wasn't. Natsuki knew of her disgusting feelings and had made it more than clear that she did not approve or reciprocate.

She'd felt completely detached from her body. She hadn't even been sure that she still existed. It was strange to think back on it now, but that was truly how it had felt. She had genuinely wondered if she was in fact, still alive. She'd felt so hollow that it seemed like a reasonable concern.

In true Kuga Natsuki style the wall of the room had been obliterated to make way for her entrance. And even if the younger girl had used the door, Kiyohime certainly made sure that the room barely even existed seconds later.

Fighting with Natsuki had surprisingly brought her out of her insanity slightly; a sudden pang of hurt had resonated through her entire being, and since she hadn't felt any emotion at all in what felt like an eternity, it pulled her back to reality, if only a little. It had told her that she _was _still alive.

Duran's size had truly shattered her, in her undeniably negative state the only reason her mind provided for the Child's stature was that Natsuki really did hate her. She couldn't remember how they ended up in the dilapidated church, she just remembered the chain of her naginata wrapping around the fallen bell, crushing it, and trapping Natsuki within its coils.

Even through the pain and devastation she was feeling, all she really wanted was to hold the beautiful girl who had stolen her heart in her arms. And she had. She honestly didn't know what she would have done next, her mind hadn't exactly been functioning on a normal level.

But, Natsuki had known what would happen next.

The kiss had been brief, but a massive shock. It had been just the jolt she needed to snap out of the violent whirl of insanity...for the most part. She still felt unreal and detached from her body, but she had recognised heat forming on her cheeks, further proof that she was indeed still alive. Natsuki's words had barely registered in her mind, but she had been able to pick out the important parts.

Natsuki didn't return her feelings, but did love her. She didn't hate her. She was absolving her. What _really _caught her attention was the blue haired girl calling out the name of her Child.

Natsuki was going to kill her. And herself by association.

Panic had shot through her system momentarily. She hadn't wanted Natsuki to die, especially not because of her. The dread was soon overtaken by acceptance though as strong arm's embraced her. Natsuki had made a decision and she had no right to disagree with it, not after everything she'd done.

The blast tore through Kiyohime with ease, the proximity of the explosion leaving no escape for Duran, destroying both Child's at once. The shock wave created whipped through the church, sweeping up their hair and winding it together as they slowly started to disappear into green flecks.

A sharp pain had radiated from her chest but she hadn't cared. Her only thoughts had been that if she was going to die, there was no other place she would rather have been than in the arms of the person she loved.

Resurrection was not something she had wanted. She hadn't wanted to come back. She hadn't wanted to live, and deal with the aftermath of her unforgivable actions. But she'd had little choice in the matter. She had sobbed as waves of guilt crushed her chest.

She had not only acted on her selfish desires but had killed, maimed and destroyed, and for what? Some pathetic hope that perhaps Natsuki would appreciate it? Understand it? Understand _her?_ She'd thought that Natsuki would've been of like mind about the resurrection. That maybe she had only pretended to forgive because knew that they were going to die.

But she had reiterated and stood by her forgiveness. Something that she had proven once again less than 24 hours ago.

What had she done to deserve the love of such a kind and caring person? She had never been under the allusion that Natsuki would accept or return her feelings...though it hadn't stopped her from hoping. Hope that, as it turned out, hadn't been futile.

"Shizuru?" She very nearly jumped at the voice, her mask slipping up in less than a second as she turned towards its owner. Natsuki stood by the entrance to the kitchen-come-living room, looking more than a little annoyed. The reason for that annoyance soon made itself known as Anh slung an arm around the biker's shoulder.

"Get off!" Natsuki snapped while shrugging the arm off her, which only seemed to amuse Anh, prompting her to giggle,

"You know, I like my girls feisty" Shizuru stood up, recognising the rising temper in her girlfriend; the shaking of her hands indicating that she was mere seconds away from lashing out at the brunette. She quickly deposited her cup on the kitchen side and grabbed Natsuki's arm gently before tugging her towards her bedroom.

"You two are like freaking rabbits seriously! Can't you even say hello to your poor old flatmate first?"Anh pouted, her only response being that of a door being closed.

* * *

><p>Now inside the silent bedroom, the air became awkward as the two girls sat on the bed, both trying to think of the best way to breach the topic they knew the other wanted to talk about. Eventually, Shizuru spoke up,<p>

"What did you think of me at that time Natsuki?" The blunette grateful that the older girl didn't seem to be in such a bad state as she had the night before. Shizuru merely seemed contemplative at the minute, though there was certainly an under tone of sadness and guilt in her voice. She wasn't _exactly_ sure what the Kyoto born was referring to with her question...but she had a good idea and her gut twisted,

"What do you mean?" Shizuru fidgeted slightly and when she settled her eyes were staring almost unseeingly at the door,

"I did awful things...I killed people...murdered them...I didn't even stop to think about it, I just...acted. I just wanted you to be safe and yet...all my actions put you in danger. I willingly fought other HiME and if Kiyohime had been defeated..." Shizuru's eyes closed as she felt a hole open up in her stomach at the thought of Natsuki dying because of her foolishness. Her hands clenched atop her thighs in an attempt to ground herself. Natsuki was here, she was alive, they had survived.

"Shizuru..." Natsuki's voice was quiet and she struggled to keep her emotions in check. She hated seeing Shizuru like this; struggling with the backlash of guilt and pain the Carnival had caused. She swallowed and took a shaky breath as she recalled the way Shizuru had looked as her sanity left her.

Shizuru's eyes slowly opened and she raised her hands slightly, her intense gaze flitting across her palms as if seeing something that nobody else could.

"My love for you is a dangerous thing Natsuki. I don't have any control over it and...it scares me that I would do it all again in a heartbeat if you were in danger" Her hands dropped back to their previous position and Natsuki felt the overwhelming need to embrace the Kyoto born. She held back though; Shizuru was giving off a strange aura that made her think that it wouldn't be a good idea. "So, what did you think of me? When I was murdering and destroying everything in the name of that love"

Natsuki froze as deep pools of crimson turned to look at her. The powerful swirl of dangerous emotion spilling out of them was frightening and she felt a heavy weight settle over her, compressing her chest. She couldn't breathe.

She closed her eyes, effectively hiding from the intense gaze, and felt air leak back into her lungs. The oppressive atmosphere remained though and she knew that Shizuru was still looking at her, waiting for an answer.

What had she thought of the older girl? She'd been utterly terrified of her. Her emotionless expression as she finally admitted her true feelings had been horrific, and she'd literally _felt _the murderous intent pouring off the person that looked very much like her best friend, but certainly wasn't. Not anymore.

"I..." She swallowed again, fighting against the lump in her throat, "I was scared..." She paused and opened her eyes ever so slightly, though she directed her gaze at the bed sheets "Of you"

She didn't like admitting that she had been afraid, nor did she want to say such things knowing that they would probably make the older girl feel guilty, but she knew that honesty would be important if either of them were ever going to accept what had happened and move on.

Shizuru shifted her gaze away from Natsuki. She had known that the blunette had been scared of her, she could easily recall the fear she'd seen in her emerald eyes and it was an awful feeling knowing that she had put it there.

"Seeing you like that..." She looked back at the younger girl in slight confusion; she hadn't expected her to elaborate. Natsuki's eyes were still downcast as she continued "It...It scared me because it was like my best friend had just disappeared and been replaced by something else"

Shizuru didn't miss the wording there, Natsuki had said _'something' _rather than _'someone'_. And she could hardly disagree, she had been a monster.

"And then you just walked off...you left me there and I..." The Kyoto born turned her head away from the younger girl again, she could hear the hurt in her voice and it made her heart clench painfully. She couldn't even imagine how Natsuki must have felt back then.

In an incredibly short period of time Natsuki had been informed of her mother's deceit, been captured by Nao, learnt that her best friend had betrayed her while she slept, watched that same friend kill a classmate and witnessed her decent into sickening madness. And then she'd just been left there to try and deal with it.

Shizuru couldn't even begin to understand what that would do to a person.

"But you know what the worst part of it all was?" She could hear the strain in the girl's voice as she tried to control her emotions, and found her own control slipping as a lump formed in her throat, "Realising that it was my fault you were doing these things" Shizuru snapped her head to the side, her burning gaze set on what she could see of the girl's face,

"It was not Natsuki's fault" Her tone left little room for disagreement; she did not want the younger girl to feel guilt over something that she definitely wasn't to blame for. To her surprise, Natsuki finally lifted her head to meet her gaze and she felt a pang of sorrow when she saw the unshed tears shimmering in her emerald eyes. The blunette gave her an intense look and she wondered what was going through her mind,

"Maybe you're right..." she paused and seemed to pour as much determination into her expression as possible, "But it wasn't your fault either. You were used by the Obsidian Prince" Shizuru had seen this coming, but she couldn't just shift the blame from herself to the dark entity that was the cause of the Carnival. It wasn't that easy.

"Maybe so, but it was my choice to act as I did" Natsuki shook her head and released a slightly shaky sigh,

"You carry around all this guilt Shizuru, but you were doing exactly the same thing as everyone else" The biker's voice was unsteady, but there was conviction there and Shizuru could tell that this was something the younger girl had thought about a lot "Everyone did things that they wouldn't normally have done. Everyone was scared of losing their most important person, and would have done anything to protect them"

"Yes, but they did not go to the same lengths" Her own voice was starting to lose its stability as well as Natsuki's demeanour got to her.

"It doesn't mean that they wouldn't have if they'd needed to. What makes you so less deserving of forgiveness than Mai? Or Mikoto? Nao, Shiho, Alyssa, Miyu, Yukariko or...me?" Natsuki's eyes closed for a moment as if she were collecting herself, "We all did awful things Shizuru. Everyone was desperate to protect their most important person..." Tears spilled down Natsuki's cheeks and Shizuru knew what was coming, "Except me...I-I killed my most important person so...so what do _you _think of _me?_"

"Na...tsuki"

"You may have killed more people than me, but I killed my best friend. And I set out that morning _knowing _that I was going to do it. I wasn't being controlled or manipulated; I knew exactly what I was doing" The younger girl's voice was suddenly so steady, her expression so intense, that it was almost scary "So who here is the monster?"

The sheer guilt and pain in Natsuki's eyes threatened to crush the rapidly beating muscle in Shizuru's chest. Her eyes widened in shock and she felt the air leave her lungs. She hadn't known that Natsuki felt that way...she hadn't even considered it. She didn't see things that way at all.

Hearing that Natsuki considered herself to be a monster was...heartbreaking. She wondered if the younger girl felt this way every time she said things like that. Natsuki was far from being a monster.

Acting on instinct, she reached out and pulled the girl into a tight embrace, their roles reversed from the night before. The force in which Natsuki returned the embrace made it seem like she thought the older girl would disappear any second.

"Natsuki, you are not a monster. What you did was incredibly brave, and many people wouldn't have been able to do it. You could easily have left me to be killed by Mai-san or Mikoto-chan, but you didn't" She spoke barely above a whisper, the sound was uneven and raw through emotion, "You sought me out and put an end to my insanity. You took it upon yourself to not only stop me from committing any more murders, but to absolve me" She swallowed thickly as a few more tears were forced out of her eyes, "You didn't have to do that"

She rubbed the blunette's back soothingly, her heart clenching painfully and her stomach twisting. She wasn't used to seeing Natsuki show weakness like this, and it tore at her heart to know that the girl was hurting. That fact that Natsuki _was_ showing weakness was testament to just how much she'd been struggling with the issue. Shizuru didn't think that there was anything to forgive, but she knew that the younger girl needed to hear it,

"I forgive you Natsuki" She said quietly and heard a muted sob as it reverberated through Natsuki's throat. She closed her eyes tightly in an attempt to forget the sound. It was strange how their roles had been reversed, but that reversal actually managed to make her feel better.

Feeling less isolated in her guilt apparently seemed to lessen it and she suddenly felt lighter. Simply talking about what had happened and getting it off her chest had helped a lot as well, and while she knew that the guilt would never truly leave her, she felt confident that she would be able to deal with it now.

She pulled back slightly so she could see Natsuki's face. Tear tracks glistened on her cheeks, her eyes were watery and her irises seemed to have changed to a more intense green, but there was a softness to them now that told Shizuru that her words had had a massive impact.

She smiled warmly at the younger girl, who returned the gesture soon after. She gently pressed her lips to the damp skin of Natsuki's cheeks, tasting the saltiness of her tears before raising her head a little to plant a soft kiss on the girl's forehead. She then rested her own forehead there and closed her eyes, allowing herself to feel relatively calm for the first time since the nightmare that had set this whole thing off.

The past day had seemed to last so much longer than any day rightly should, and in the aftermath of such emotional turmoil she found that she was exhausted. She wondered if Natsuki would stay with her for a while...

Before long she felt Natsuki shift against her. She assumed that the younger girl had come out of her emotional state and was feeling uncomfortable at their close proximity. It therefore surprised her when she felt light pressure against her lips.

The kiss was soft, barely a kiss at all but a mere touching of lips. It left Shizuru feeling content. Natsuki's small, weary smile when she opened her eyes made her heart flutter,

"Would Natsuki like to take a nap with me?" Her voice was still a little scratchy but it sounded more like its usual tone than it had previously. The younger girl merely nodded in response to her question, clearly beyond tired herself. Shizuru placed another quick kiss against Natsuki's forehead before untangling herself from their embrace and kneeling on the bed to close the curtains.

It was only just growing dark outside so light still filtered in through the material, but it cast an almost calming hue around the room so Shizuru didn't think it would be a problem. Besides, they were both clearly too drained for it to bother them anyway.

Natsuki kicked off her shoes before quite literally falling down onto the bed, sighing slightly as her head hit the pillow, her eyes closing instantly. She felt the mattress dip a little behind her as Shizuru shifted and soon felt an arm snake around her waist, pulling her into the warmth of the older girl's body.

Within minutes both girls breathing had levelled out as sleep claimed them.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>Don't you just hate it when someone leads you in the completely _wrong_ direction? ;) I enjoy manipulating your thoughts :P Tricking you all into thinking that Shizuru had done something with Anh or someone else was me being slightly evil I admit XD Made things interesting though right? :P

Urgh, this chapter was difficult to write...mostly because I think it's pretty boring...sorry D: My take on what happened in the tea house is probably pretty generic but oh well... hopefully I managed to put at least some sort of spin on it to make it my own -_-

I'm sorry for all the angst and whatnot, but as far as the Carnival events between Shizuru and Natsuki are concerned, I'm done with it lol And anyway, what's a ShizNat fic without angst? :P

Shout out to **a 'me**, who really tickled me by saying - 'Maybe she's just crying because she did wind up drunk and is calling Natsuki to help her get up the stairs...or better yet she just butt-dailed Natsuki on her cell and is upset because she woke her up in the middle of the night.' This would make a great omake haha

Now, for those of you (I suspect it's quite a lot of you actually) who are waiting for sexy times, fear not, **the rating will be going up next chapter ;)** Hopefully I won't do too badly...just don't set your expectations too high 'kay? :P Consider this my way of apologising for giving you an evil cliff hanger, followed by an angsty chapter :P

Wow, my authors notes just get longer and longer don't they? ¬.¬;

~IlliterateKoi~

p.s - All this down time is doing my nut in...seriously .


	14. Forgiven

**Disclaimer: **I own...um...it's bad that I can't think of anything isn't it? XD Oh well, either way, I don't own Mai HiME or its characters, they belong to Sunrise.

**WARNING:** The rating for this fic is now **M**, which means that it is for** mature** readers only. So, if you are not of legal age in your country please refrain from reading any further. Also, if two consenting females having sex is not your thing, avert your eyes...and why are you looking at stories in the M category of Mai HiME if this is the case? Lol

**AN: **Thank you for the reviews/faves/alerts! *throws chapter at readers and runs away to hide under a rock*

Edit: Thanks to Andy for pointing out my overzealous use of 'Kyoto born' lol I've edited it as best I could :)

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><p>Barricade<p>

Chapter 14: Forgiven

_"Forgiveness breaks the chain of causality because he who forgives you - out of love-takes upon himself the consequences of what you have done. Forgiveness, therefore, always entails a sacrifice."_

* * *

><p>Natsuki woke in much the same position she'd fallen asleep in, and the warmth of the body behind her was immensely comforting. She quickly became aware of the slight change in their embrace though and a blush rushed to her cheeks. At some point in their sleep, Shizuru's hand had shifted from her stomach to her breast.<p>

Strangely, she found that since her girlfriend couldn't tease her, it was actually more funny than embarrassing, _'Even while she's asleep she still manages to be a pervert'_ She suppressed a chuckle at the thought. She knew that Shizuru would probably be embarrassed herself if she woke to find her hand in that position...or perhaps she would feel guilty...

The biker opened her eyes and carefully turned over so as not to wake the older girl. The room was dark, which made seeing Shizuru's face difficult, but once her eyes adjusted somewhat she could just about make out the Kyoto born's features.

She looked peaceful, and Natsuki hoped that that meant the girl wasn't being plagued by any remaining doubts about the Carnival. She sincerely hoped that Shizuru believed that she was forgiven, and that she didn't have to worry about what had happened anymore.

The older girl had managed to make her feel a lot better about what she had done, though she knew that she would probably be hit with some guilt from time to time when she remembered that she had killed the girl. With any luck Shizuru would always be there to quell her guilt though, and if needed she would be there to return the favour.

She continued to stare at Shizuru's shadowed face for a long while, smiling slightly when the older girl murmured something in her sleep and pouted. She was a very adorable sleeper. Seeing the ex-Kaichou in such a peaceful and almost vulnerable state made her feel somewhat special, because she knew that very few, if any, other people had seen her like this.

Shizuru was actually an almost completely different person behind that mask she always wore. The persona she adopted when dealing with the outside world was nothing but a ruse to keep people from really knowing her. Natsuki was not particularly fond of the ever polite, always smiling front that Shizuru hid behind.

It gave her an air of perfection that the younger girl found ridiculous. Shizuru had faults like any other human being, and Natsuki preferred it that way. There was nothing more annoying, and sometimes intimidating, than someone who was practically perfect. The biker much preferred the more relaxed and sometimes incredibly silly Shizuru, because that was when the older girl was being genuine.

And again, she was one of very few people who saw that side of the other girl. Her heart swelled as she realised how lucky she was to have someone like Shizuru love her.

She honestly could not understand why someone so beautiful, intelligent and caring would love her. She was pretty much Shizuru's opposite, and it genuinely flabbergasted her that she had somehow captured the heart of such an amazing person.

She certainly wasn't going to complain though. She wasn't stupid enough to doubt Shizuru love for her, and she most definitely returned that love. She wondered if Shizuru truly knew that she returned those feelings.

In fact, Natsuki felt that her feelings for the older girl had grown more intense in the aftermath of dealing with their issues pertaining to the Carnival. Seeing Shizuru so vulnerable, and allowing herself to show weakness in front of the older girl...well, if she'd had any doubts about her true feelings they would have been quelled.

It was almost scary how much she had changed in the past year. She'd gone from completely ignoring such 'pointless' emotions, to acknowledging that perhaps they were more important than she thought, to actually _having _those emotions herself. It was incredibly odd for her to think back to a time when she hadn't even wanted Shizuru as a friend.

Now, she couldn't even imagine life without the chestnut haired girl. It scared her in a way, because she knew that she had given the older girl power over her, but, she understood that it went two ways. _She _had power over _Shizuru _too. And that power had been terrifyingly clear during the Carnival.

She smiled softly as Shizuru murmured again. The amount of affection she had for the Kyoto born was startling, and she honestly couldn't even begin to imagine how Shizuru must have felt when she'd been repressing those feelings.

Natsuki may not have been the type to feel comfortable expressing affection, but she could take comfort from the fact that if she wanted to, she could. And that the person she loved returned those feelings. Shizuru hadn't had that comfort. Natsuki quickly decided that she would just have to try and make up for that by making Shizuru as happy as she could now.

She was pulled out of her thoughts when she suddenly became aware of Shizuru's light breathing brushing against her face. It was only then that she really registered the proximity of their bodies. There was very little room between them, the single bed didn't allow it, and as such, her chest was pressed up against the older girl's.

She felt her cheeks heat up but she found that she didn't feel the need to pull away...she'd likely fall off the bed if she tried anyway, but that was beside the point. The point was; she didn't _want _to move away. There was something rather pleasant about the way their breasts pressed closer together as they breathed...

She could feel her temperature rising and she was well aware why that was happening. The make out sessions she'd had with Shizuru had caused similar effects and she was not completely stupid, she knew that her body heating up was a side effect of arousal.

And she could hardly dispute her body's reactions; Shizuru was incredibly pleasing to the eyes, who wouldn't get aroused when having such a beauty pressed against them? But, she understood that _her _reacting that way was a little strange.

For a very long time she had't really had any interest in sex or suchlike, and she knew that her arousal directly correlated with that fact the body pressed against her was _Shizuru. _The girl she was very much in love with.

She squirmed slightly as the heat started to make her feel uncomfortable. The fact that she had identified that she was aroused did not really help her any, since now she had to figure out what to do about it...

The fairly obvious way in which most people would deal with such a thing made her feel nervous, but...she found that she was not completely averse to the idea. She loved Shizuru, and Shizuru loved her, so it seemed like a logical step for them to take.

She didn't have the slightest idea how she would even go about suggesting that to the older girl though. And, it wasn't like she had any experience in doing..._that_. She knew the basics of course, but...she had never even touched herself in that way...

She frowned at her annoying lack of sexual experience. The thought of letting Shizuru 'go first' crossed her mind, but she quickly decided that she didn't want that. She wanted to prove that she loved Shizuru just as much as she loved her, and she feared that letting the older girl lead the way too much would give the impression that she was just going along with it.

And anyway...she wanted to touch Shizuru. Her mind chose that moment to recall the sound of one of Shizuru's quiet moans and she was sure that her cheeks turned purple. The heat finally became too much and she slowly removed herself form the embrace and got off the bed.

She tried to be a quiet as possible, tip-toeing across the floor... but ended up tripping over one of her shoes, which clunked loudly through the silence. She froze and looked at the bed to make sure that she hadn't woken the other girl. When Shizuru's only response was a slight mumble she relaxed and carefully made her way out of the room.

Owing to the lack of lighting and the fact that she wasn't yet used to the apartment's lay out, she very nearly walked straight into the wall opposite the bedroom door and had to stop herself from cursing out loud. She edged her way towards the kitchen slowly and felt around for the light switch.

She squinted as the light burned her eyes and made her way over to the cupboards above the kitchen counter. After opening several of them she finally found what she was looking for and swiftly filled a glass with cold water before chugging the liquid. It soothed her dry throat and cooled her down slightly.

She stretched and smiled a little when her back cracked loudly. She glanced down at herself and was glad that she'd gone back to the dorms before returning to Shizuru's apartment. Her clothes were pretty crumpled due to sleeping in them, and if she'd been wearing her uniform she would've had to iron it. She had never been a fan of ironing.

She refilled her glass and leant against the kitchen top, her eyes scanning the living room absently. She then noticed the yellow sticky note on the fridge in the corner of her eye and shifted towards it. She rolled her eyes at what was written there,

'_I've got a date, can't let you two have all the fun now can I? I'll be back tomorrow if all goes well ;) ~Anh X'_

The biker then chuckled at the small sentence at the bottom of the note;

'_Ps, I think the milk is off...it smells funky'_

As she took in the note a bit more she realised that Anh's absence meant that she and Shizuru had the apartment to themselves for the night...which only lead her back to her previous thoughts. She downed her drink again.

She wandered over to one of the couches in the living room and fell onto it, her head resting over the back of it so she could stare at the ceiling _'What the hell...stupid hormones...stupid body...stupid sexy Shizuru'_ She couldn't help but chuckle at her own thoughts _'Damn it what am I gunna do for..._' she checked her mobile for the time: 2:34 _'6 hours! If not more before Shizuru wakes up! Urghhh...' _

Apparently, despite the fact that she'd been completely exhausted when she'd fallen asleep, her body had easily recovered in the 7-ish hours she'd slept for, which now meant that she was wide awake. And there was absolutely _nothing _for her to do. The apartment was pretty empty, since both its occupants kept their things in their respective rooms. Which only left her with her thoughts...and there was still only one thing on her mind.

She wondered if Shizuru even wanted them to have sex yet...it seemed like a ridiculous thought really, since Natsuki was pretty sure that the Kyoto born would jump at the chance. The older girl had never really been subtle with her admiration of her body, and it wasn't like she hadn't teased her with inappropriate or suggestive comments before.

And, looking back to a couple of days ago, when they'd made out in Shizuru's room...she didn't think it too unrealistic to think that if Anh hadn't interrupted them Shizuru may have taken things further. She remembered the look in the Kyoto born's eyes as she'd touched her, their crimson colour slightly darkened and swirling with something that she hadn't been able to place.

She was now pretty sure that what she'd seen there had been desire. So, obviously Shizuru wanted to take things further, and she'd already established that she would quite like to as well. But what was she meant to do with that information?

She sighed as she pondered her options. She could either sit around debating the best way to go about dealing with her predicament, or she could go and try to subtly suggest it to the Kyoto born. The later didn't really seem very appealing since she was sure that Shizuru would probably tease her about it but... sitting in the silent living room for 6 hours was not particularly appealing either.

However, Shizuru was sleeping...and Natsuki didn't really want to wake the older girl if she could help it. She sighed again as she realised that she was back to square one. _'Stupid sexy Shizuru'_

* * *

><p>Shizuru frowned when she couldn't feel the warmth of another body beside her and opened her eyes to be greeted by complete darkness. She glanced at her alarm clock, its luminous numbers telling her that it was almost 3am.<p>

She fought the urge to think bad thoughts about Natsuki not being there and instead reached over to her bedside lamp to turn it on. The light stung her eyes and everything was blurry for a few moments, but when she could see again she noted that Natsuki's shoes were still on her bedroom floor, so the girl obviously hadn't gone far.

She stretched and sat up, the muggy feeling in her head slowly fading as she woke up properly. She was relatively surprised that she was awake at all, she'd been so exhausted earlier that she'd been sure she would sleep for a good 12 hours or so. She suspected that the disappearance of her girlfriend had been the reason she'd woken up.

She sat on her bed for a little while, her head cocked to the side slightly as she tried to pick up any sounds that would indicate Natsuki's whereabouts. She could see a vague slither of light sneaking through the small gap under her door but she couldn't hear anything. She yawned lightly and wondered if she should go and check if the younger girl was alright.

She'd hate to think that Natsuki was out there still thinking about the Carnival. Before she could stand up to find out though, the light from under her door vanished and not too long after, her bedroom opened slowly.

She couldn't help but giggle at the incredibly sheepish look on Natsuki's face as she saw that she was awake.

"Uh...hey...I didn't wake you did I?" Natsuki could feel a blush starting to form on her cheeks, owing to the fact that she had just been thinking some pretty 'indecent' thoughts...and Shizuru's slightly mussed hair was not helping matters.

She really hadn't expected the older girl to be awake; she knew that Shizuru could sleep for hours at the best of times, never mind after the emotional stress of the day before. She scanned the older girl's expression for any sign that she was still troubled by the events.

"Natsuki really needs to stop leaving me to wake up on my own" Shizuru pouted, and Natsuki was relieved by the normal behaviour. If Shizuru was talking about her in third person and pouting, things must be alright.

"R-right...sorry" She knew that she was still blushing as she made her way over to the bed, and she could feel Shizuru's gaze on her as she sat beside the Kyoto born. When she felt the heat leave her cheeks she turned to look at the older girl tentatively.

Her breath caught in her throat at the warm smile Shizuru was directing at her, it reached her eyes and seemed to brighten her entire face. The light from the bedside lamp made the older girl's skin glow slightly and the way it highlighted her hair gave the strands an almost golden colour. But it was her eyes that really captured Natsuki's attention.

There was such intensity behind them that it almost made her feel breathless. The way Shizuru was looking at her made her feel like she was the only thing in existence. It was truly an outstanding feeling. She gave her girlfriend a questioning look, not understanding why Shizuru would suddenly look at her in such a way.

"I love you, so much" Shizuru whispered, though the emotion was clear in her voice, and even if it hadn't been, her expression definitely got her point across.

Natsuki felt her heart swell at the words and she eyed the older girl with a look that was almost awe. She once again wondered how she had managed to capture the heart of such an amazing person. She returned the smile as best she could, trying to match the intensity in Shizuru's eyes,

"I know. I love you too" Her voice was so soft and filled with affection that it made Shizuru feel like crying. The warmth of emotion cursing through the younger girl made it impossible to ignore her earlier thoughts, and she realised that this was probably as good a time as any to let the older girl know just how much she truly did love her.

"I..." She started, her eyes downcast as a blush settled on her cheeks. She wondered if it would be a little strange for her to suggest this...she hadn't even touched Shizuru at all really, not in that sort of way, so for her to suddenly say she wanted to do more than simple touching might be weird...but, she _did _want to do more than that. She wanted to make love to Shizuru, and she had never been one to do things by halves.

The older girl wondered what Natsuki was trying to say, or what she was thinking about that would make her blush and avert her eyes. Part of her wanted to tease or simply ask the biker, but she could tell that whatever Natsuki was mulling over held some importance so she held back. Instead, she waited patiently, smiling comfortingly at the girl.

"I want..." Natsuki's mouth suddenly felt very dry and her nerves were swirling in her stomach, but she forced herself to look back at the Kyoto born, "I want to show you"

The air rushed out of Shizuru's lungs, both at Natsuki's words and the intense look in her eyes. Her heart stuttered and her stomach flipped. Did Natsuki mean what she thought she meant?

She peered questioningly into the emerald eyes that were surveying her face. She could see them drop lower, trailing across her body, lingering on certain areas, before returning to her face. The Kyoto born felt a mild blush settle on her cheeks and her heart rate pick up. Yes, Natsuki meant what she thought she had.

"Natsuki?" Her voice was quiet, almost timid, but it had the desired effect as the blunette looked straight into her eyes, a deep blush covering her cheeks. Shizuru felt her pulse increase further at the emotion she could see behind those beautiful green eyes. The affection there was startling and she was sure that her heart stopped beating for a second or two.

As she thought over what Natsuki was proposing she felt a hint of nervousness hit her system. She wanted to feel the younger girl's touch, no doubt about it, she had wanted to for such a long time and she wasn't about to change her mind. But, it would still be her first time.

Natsuki could feel her heart thumping a little violently in her chest as she considered what to do. She knew what she wanted to do...for the most part anyway, but she wasn't sure if she should. Shizuru might not want her to do anything...it seemed unlikely, but there was still a chance right? The older girl hadn't really responded in a way that clearly stated if she wanted to or not...

"I-if you don't want to t-that's fine, I just...uh" Natsuki stuttered, blushing madly and feeling somewhat idiotic. Shizuru reacted quickly and stopped the girl before she could talk herself out of her own suggestion,

"I want this Natsuki" Emerald eyes shot up to look at the Kyoto born's face as the words made her heart falter for a moment. Shizuru wanted this. A pleasant warmth washed through her body and she felt her emotions shift almost instantly.

Her eyes dipped down to Shizuru's lips, then to her neck when she saw it bob slightly as the girl swallowed. After dragging her eyes back upwards, she locked them on to loving and slightly nervous looking crimson. She became aware of her own accelerated breathing, it was only slight, but it was enough that she had noticed. She wanted to touch the older girl, but she wasn't really sure where to start, and her nerves were beginning to set in.

Shizuru continued to look back at the younger girl, watching her expression as she tried to come to terms with something. She parted her lips slightly to facilitate the slight increase in her breathing when she saw the desire creeping its way into emerald eyes. Natsuki wanted to touch her, and she certainly wanted to feel that touch. So why was the younger girl just sitting there, looking at her?

She quickly realised that the blunette was rattled with indecision, about where to begin she assumed, and decided to help her girlfriend out. She inched her head forward slightly and placed a hand on Natsuki's left shoulder. Apparently, this was enough to snap the girl out of her indecisive state as she swiftly closed the gap between them.

Their lips met and instantly started to move against each other. Their movements were slow and tender and Shizuru felt herself melt into the kiss, her mind focusing only on the feel of their lips pressing and sliding against each other.

Natsuki's first feeling was of relief. Her entire body had been slowly tensing up as she tried to decide what to do, but the second her lips had met Shizuru's the tension had dissipated. Now, as she kissed the older girl she felt a rush of warmth through her body and couldn't help but lean closer. She placed her hands on Shizuru's hips, while her tongue traced one of the lips between her own.

Shizuru opened her mouth willingly and brought her own tongue out to meet her girlfriend's. She felt the bed shift slightly as Natsuki turned to face her properly, bringing one leg up onto the mattress and leaning forward, pressing their lips closer together and deepening the kiss. She moaned softly as Natsuki's tongue brushed against hers and felt a puff of air against her face from the younger girl.

Shizuru's hand, which was still resting on Natsuki's shoulder, moved up and her fingers were wound into cobalt locks, pulling the girl even closer. Her increasingly hazy state of mind meant that she didn't realise her move would throw off the blunette's centre of gravity. Luckily, Natsuki was able to throw her left arm out, her hand meeting the soft sheets of the bed and holding her weight.

The younger girl started to reply their previous make-out sessions in her head, trying to recall what Shizuru had done to her so she could at least get things started.

Shizuru could feel her body heat up as Natsuki's right hand began to lightly stroke her side through the thin T-shirt she was wearing. The contact was far too light for her liking but she wasn't about to complain, lest she made the girl stop altogether.

Natsuki was not even considering stopping, she was just trying to work up the nerve to make the next move. She wanted to feel the older girl's skin, she wanted to touch her and hear her moans, she wanted to make Shizuru writhe in pleasure, and as long as the Kyoto born would let her, she would. She just needed to call up the courage to get things moving.

When her lungs began to ache from lack of oxygen she pulled out of the kiss and was pleased to see that a light blush had spread across Shizuru's cheeks, tinting them a lovely shade of pink and making her look incredibly pretty. She placed another quick kiss on her lips before moving elsewhere.

Her breath tickled the sensitive skin of Shizuru's neck and she felt the fingers in her hair tighten their hold slightly when she pressed her lips to the smooth flesh. She kissed the area tenderly for a moment before pushing her tongue out to taste the skin she had captured. As she continued her motions she heard a small gasp just above her and smiled at the reaction.

The older girl felt her heart start to beat more violently in her chest, pumping blood around her body and seemingly directing its flow to the more sensitive areas. This only seemed to increase when she felt Natsuki's right hand slowly brush up her side again, the light contact making her shiver. She suppressed a moan when she felt teeth lightly nibble at her neck and brought her free arm up to wrap around Natsuki's back.

The blunette tried to calm her rapidly beating heart as her hand found itself hovering just to the side of Shizuru's left breast. The older girl's breathing was markedly quicker and her chest was rising and falling a little more noticeably than normal, pushing it closer to her hand with each breath.

She could feel the warmth of the older girl on her palm, despite the fact that she was not directly touching her, and it caused her own body to heat up further. Her arm shook ever so slightly, both because of her nerves and the fact that it was in a somewhat awkward position, holding her weight to prevent her from toppling forward and in to Shizuru.

This problem could be easily solved however, and she quickly set about doing just that. She released the suction she had on the older girl's neck and pulled back to admire her work. She was delighted to see that a red splotch had risen to the surface of the skin, effectively marking the Kyoto born. She then lifted her head and pressed her lips against Shizuru's softly.

While she kept Shizuru's mind occupied with her mouth and tongue, her hand moved upwards to rest on the girl's sternum. Shizuru's chest seemed to jump at the contact, but she didn't pull away so Natsuki assumed that the touch had just been unexpected, not unwanted. She let her hand rest there for a moment before gathering her nerves and gently applying pressure, urging Shizuru to lie back.

The older girl complied, too lost in the kiss to really take note of what was happening. This instantly changed when she felt her back meet the mattress and Natsuki's body against her own. Her hold on the younger girl tightened and she moaned into their kiss. God it felt good to have Natsuki pressed against her like that.

Natsuki shuddered at Shizuru's vocal approval of their new position, the sound sending a ripple of warmth throughout her already heated body. She was still holding some of her weight off the chestnut haired girl by propping herself up with her left forearm, but she was now far more comfortable.

Shizuru's head was swimming, her thoughts clouded over by the heat quickly enveloping her body. It was getting to be unbearable and she desperately wanted to free herself from her restrictive clothing. She could feel Natsuki's hand as it twitched against her sternum, calling attention to the fact that it was incredibly close to her breasts. Once that thought hit her she felt her heart race faster and her arousal start to climb. Why wasn't Natsuki doing anything about the ache that was starting to form in her breasts?

As if she had somehow sensed Shizuru's thoughts, Natsuki's hand started to move. The movement was slow and light, her fingertips barely even making contact with the cotton of the older girl's T-shirt.

Natsuki left Shizuru's mouth so that they could both inhale some much needed air, but her hand faltered. Her mind was fighting with her body and she chewed the inside of her lip nervously. She wanted to touch Shizuru, but what if she did it wrong? She wanted it to feel good for the Kyoto born and she was worried that her inexperience would prevent that. She knew that her instincts would likely take over at some point, but until then she had to actively find the best way to proceed...

While she once again cursed her lack of sexual experience, Shizuru came out of her daze a little at the inactivity. Crimson eyes, that had been hidden behind eyelids moments earlier, peered up into deep emerald, their irises slightly darker than their usual shade.

She could clearly see the desire swirling in the blunette's eyes, but there was also anxiety. A deep blush had over taken the younger girl's face but Shizuru could feel the heat on her own cheeks, which told her that hers didn't look much different. She smiled comfortingly up at the girl, though she was feeling a fair bit of nervousness herself.

Natsuki's hand was hovering just above her left breast, its proximity almost maddening. And she realised that if she wanted things to continue, the younger girl was going to need some reassurance.

Not wanting to speak and break the atmosphere that had surrounded them, she manoeuvred her left hand so it rested atop Natsuki's right. After a moment she steadily applied pressure until she felt the girl's palm cup her breast. Her breathing hitched and she was sure that her heart would explode at the sensation.

She continued to look into Natsuki's eyes for a couple of seconds before the need to get things moving again became her priority. Using the hand that was still tangled in Natsuki's hair, she pulled the girls face down to hers, capturing her lips in a passionate kiss. The younger girl responded instantly, and Shizuru soon found her tongue fighting with its partner.

Natsuki smiled in to the kiss as she felt Shizuru's chest heave under her hand at every slight movement she made. The older girl's actions had more than chased away her concerns about proceeding, although she was still somewhat nervous. She tentatively applied a bit more pressure with the palm of her hand and fingers, feeling the swell of the girl's breast and pulling a quiet moan from Shizuru's throat.

As she continued to squeeze and knead the soft mound, Shizuru's hand left hers and instead moved to join the other entwined in her hair. Encouraged by the older girl's reactions, Natsuki's hand got bolder in its movements and her ministrations became slightly firmer and more confident, forcing her to pull out of the kiss to facilitate not only Shizuru's, but her own accelerated breathing.

She looked down at Shizuru's face and felt the warmth that had spread throughout her body begin to localise to particular areas. The older girl had her eyes closed and her eyebrows furrowed slightly, twitching every now and then in response to the movements of her hand. Her blush had gotten slightly darker and her lips were parted to help with her rapid breathing.

Slowly but surely Natsuki's nerves were beginning to dissipate. Her hand left Shizuru's breast and made its way quickly to the hem of the girls T-shirt, intending to remove the barrier that kept the girls creamy skin from her.

The Kyoto born felt the tugging on her shirt and sat up at the younger girl's insistence. Her stomach became a hive of nerves as her top was slowly pulled upwards, warm hands brushing against her sides before the fabric was pulled over her head. She felt a heavy blush rush to her cheeks and her eyes fell to the mattress below them. Feeling exposed and unusually shy, she fought the urge to wrap her arms around her torso and hide from the younger girl.

Her thoughts suddenly became loud and she felt her nerves amp up slightly. Her shirt wouldn't be the only item of clothing she would be losing, she was sure, which meant that Natsuki was going to see her at least semi-naked...probably completely naked in actual fact. The thought made her feel strangely self-conscious. Would Natsuki like how she looked? What if after seeing her naked the younger girl didn't want to carry on?

"Shizuru?" Natsuki's voice sounded somewhat lower than its usual pitch and it urged crimson to look up and in to caring emerald.

She could see numerous different emotions swirling in Natsuki's eyes, the most prominent being desire, anxiety and love. Seeing that the younger girl was also still a little nervous made her feel better, but the warm smile the blunette gave her made her heart melt and her nerves really start to fade.

Her hair must have gotten slightly mussed when her shirt had been removed as Natsuki ran her fingers through chestnut locks to make them fall correctly again, her eyes now filled with simple affection. When the younger girl's hand came to rest on her heated cheek she felt her anxiety settle.

What did she have to be nervous about? Natsuki wanted to prove the extent of her feelings by making love to her. Natsuki loved her. And she certainly returned those feelings, so there wasn't any need for her to worry. Besides, she had no doubt that the experience would be rather pleasurable.

With her mind settled and feeling more comfortable, she felt her need for the biker rise again. Apparently her thoughts hadn't quite made it to her expression though, as Natsuki still seemed a little unsure,

"Are you okay? W-we can stop if you w..." Shizuru cut her off with a kiss, wordlessly trying to tell the girl that she didn't want them to stop, her hands holding the blunette's head in place. Natsuki seemed to get the message and her hands soon returned to Shizuru's slightly cool skin.

With the cotton barrier now removed, the younger girl brushed her hands up and down Shizuru's sides, delighting in how soft the skin beneath her palms was. She trailed her fingertips across the older girl's stomach and couldn't help but smile into the kiss when she felt the muscles there twitch in response to her touch. She could feel the older girl's skin quickly warming under her caresses, and realised offhandedly that she was getting pretty hot herself.

Soon, her fingers trekked upward and met with the fabric of Shizuru's bra. She mapped its texture lightly, tracing over the material and causing Shizuru to release of puff of air against her face. At another time she may have taken a moment to admire the lacework and quality of the undergarment, but right now, she was more interested in what lay beneath it. She drew along the bottom of the bra, following it around Shizuru's body until her fingers met the clasp and quickly unfastened it.

Ignoring the way her heart was thundering in her ears, she slowly went about slipping the straps off her girlfriend's shoulders and down her arms. After some quick manoeuvring Shizuru was feed from the item and Natsuki hastily flung it across the room, not caring where it landed.

Shizuru felt herself being urged backwards again, and quickly complied, lying down and resting her head on a soft pillow. As Natsuki pulled out of their kiss the older girl couldn't help but think that this entire scenario was a little backwards, it was certainly different from how her mind had told her things would work between them.

Never had she imagined that Natsuki would be bold enough to take control like this, and she certainly hadn't been expecting the girl to be in charge when it came to their first time. The fact that the younger girl _was _being the dominant one right now made the entire experience seem somewhat surreal, almost dreamlike in a way. Although, even in her dreams it was something of a rarity. Not that she was complaining of course, far from it.

She was pulled out of her musings when she felt light kisses being trailed across her collarbone, a warm tongue peeking out every so often to taste her skin. She started to pant as the kisses slowly edged closer to her breasts.

Natsuki dragged her lips across smooth skin, her ears tuned into the older girl's rapidly increasing breathing. While her hand stroked up and down Shizuru's side and across her stomach occasionally, her mouth finally reached the swell of the girl's breast and she placed a series of kisses around the top of it.

When she felt Shizuru squirm slightly beneath her, probably due to frustration at the slow pace she was setting, she realised that it was time to move on. She lifted her head to glace up at Shizuru's face and smiled as she noticed that the girl's blush had deepened.

Deciding that she'd made her girlfriend wait long enough, she quickly ducked her head back down, her mouth easily finding the girl's right nipple and wrapping around it. Shizuru gasped loudly and her hand pressed against the younger girl's scalp, holding her in place.

In response to Shizuru's obvious approval, Natsuki sucked gently on the erect nub and was rewarded with a deep moan that made the muscles low in her stomach clench. God she loved that sound. Shizuru was now panting heavily, her mouth open to make breathing easier, which also meant that any subsequent moans met no resistance, much to Natsuki's delight.

The older girl could do nothing but concentrate on breathing as Natsuki's mouth kissed its way over to her left breast to give it the same treatment. She could tell that the younger girl was paying attention and repeating the movements that provoked the strongest responses. And she had no problem with letting the girl know that her actions were more than welcome, she wouldn't have been able to stay quiet if she'd wanted to anyway.

A hot, moist muscle flicked at her nipple before it circled her areola and she moaned as bolts of pleasure shot downwards, causing the slight throb between her legs to increase. Adding to the glorious sensations that Natsuki's mouth was giving her, she soon felt a hand on her right breast, squeezing gently. Two fingers lightly pinched her nipple and at the same time, teeth grazed the other.

Her back arched and another moan fell past her lips while she clutched at Natsuki, her fingers grabbing the material of the girl's hooded top. This of course called attention to the fact that Natsuki will still fully clothed, which Shizuru thought was thoroughly unfair. In an attempt to rectify that, she tugged at the fabric, trying to get her point across through the distracting jolts of pleasure.

Thankfully, Natsuki seemed to understand and with a small chuckle, she lifted her head, her lips seeking and finding the older girl's to plant a quick kiss there before she sat up astride Shizuru's hips. The Kyoto born watched with half lidded eyes as Natsuki reached down to the hem of her top, a deep blush on her cheeks. In an instant, the older girl sat up and replaced Natsuki's hands with her own; she wanted to play a more active role in the undressing of her girlfriend.

The clothing was soon removed and Shizuru felt her heavy breathing hitch as she took in the unmarred skin before her. Her eyes travelled along the light lines on the younger girl's stomach, around the curve of her hips and up to her chest. A deep blue, lacy bra covered Natsuki's breasts and Shizuru was entranced as the orbs rose and fell with the younger girl's breathing.

Without another thought she leant forward to press her lips against the exposed portion of Natsuki's right breast, while her hands found the girl's hips. A sharp gasp met her ears and she felt fingers thread through her hair at the base of her neck. She smiled against the smooth skin before planting her lips firmly against it and sucking gently. Her tongue lapped at the spot and she revelled in the slightly salty taste of the girl's skin.

A small noise, probably what couldn't be suppressed of a moan, fell from the younger girl's throat and Shizuru groaned as she felt her arousal shoot higher, the ache between her legs becoming harder to ignore. Her hands wandered across the top of Natsuki's jeans, tracing along the waistband and causing a series of shudders to pass through the girl's body.

Natsuki felt like her body was on fire, the heat she'd previously felt building in the pit of her stomach had intensified tenfold and the pleasure Shizuru's ministrations were eliciting were nothing if not distracting. She shuddered again as the older girl's palms brushed up her sides before moving around her body, where fingertips traced down her spine causing goose bumps rise on her skin.

She couldn't contain the moan that forced itself from her throat when she felt something warm and moist travel along the valley of her breasts and she unintentionally tightened her grip on Shizuru's hair. She became aware of her breathing coming out as a succession of pants and realised that she was quickly losing control of the situation.

With much difficulty, she pushed through the distracting sensations and placed her hands on Shizuru's shoulders, pulling herself away from the older girl's very talented mouth and tongue. Darkened crimson eyes peered questioningly at her through chestnut bangs, but she didn't offer any explanation beyond capturing slightly swollen lips with her own.

She leant forward, pushing Shizuru's centre of gravity off and forcing her to return to the mattress. Once this was achieved, Natsuki wasted no time in dropping her hands to the older girl's jeans, her fingers easily finding the button and, with minimal fumbling she managed to pop it open.

Shizuru barely had time to revel in how good it felt to have Natsuki's mostly naked torso against hers when she felt the material covering her legs being tugged downwards. Her nerves returned slightly, but her arousal easily overpowered them and she found herself lifting her hips to help Natsuki remove the item of clothing. Since neither of them seemed to want to end their kiss just yet, the Kyoto born merely kicked her legs to completely rid herself of her jeans and she soon felt cool air against her bare skin.

Natsuki's mouth disappeared from her own and she felt the girl's body lift off her slightly, giving her a chance to catch her breath. She tried to steady her breathing, taking a deep lungful of air and then slowly releasing it again. Her mind was buzzing and she had a sneaking suspicion that if she tried to stand up right now her legs would give out.

Natsuki took in the expanse of soft flesh that was now revealed to her, the glow cast across the older girl's skin by the lamp seemed to accentuate the subtle dips and curves of her body, making her look even more alluring than usual. She felt her arousal shoot up a notch, her nerves now long gone.

She traced her fingers over the girl's stomach, applying slight pressure so she could feel the muscles beneath as they quaked at her touch. Her eyes were drawn to the girl's large breasts as they moved in time with her heavy breathing, pink nipples standing erect atop the creamy hills. From there her gaze travelled upward until she could see Shizuru's face, wanting to peer into the crimson eyes that were currently hidden.

As Shizuru's mind cleared slightly she realised that Natsuki wasn't moving and opened her eyes to see what her girlfriend was doing. Burning emeralds stared back at her and her heart jumped into her throat. A shiver shot down her spine at the intense look of desire she saw in Natsuki's eyes and her breathing, which had slowly been stabilising, became erratic once more.

How long had she wondered what it would be like to have Natsuki look at her like that? To look at her as she had looked at the biker, with such love and burning desire that made it impossible to think of anything else. And now that she _was_ on the receiving end of such a look, she could do nothing but breathe as her arousal climbed higher.

Natsuki descended towards her again and initiated a slow kiss while her hands returned to her breasts and began massaging them, well and truly sending her into a haze. She couldn't help but moan into Natsuki's mouth as bolts of pleasure shot through her system. She'd never felt anything like it in her life, and she knew that things were only going to get more intense.

Despite the distracting pleasure, she couldn't help but wonder how Natsuki seemed to know exactly what to do. The younger girl had not only taken control, but she was doing an amazing job with her hands and mouth. If the Kyoto born didn't know any better she would've said that this wasn't the first time Natsuki had done this. Or perhaps it was simply because it was Natsuki doing these things to her that made it feel so intense.

All thought was promptly pushed out of her mind when she felt her left nipple being rolled between two fingers, pulling another moan from her throat. After a minute more of this treatment she started to squirm, her need for the biker's touch was starting to shift elsewhere and she felt her frustration mounting.

She broke their kiss to try and voice what she wanted, but all she could manage was a desperate series of pants and moans. As the ministrations on her breasts continued, she found herself rubbing her legs together in an attempt to assuage the building need she was feeling just below her last item of clothing.

Noticing this, Natsuki manoeuvred herself and used one of her legs to gently nudge Shizuru's thighs apart. She could feel the puffs of air against her face intensify as she did this and it encouraged her to go on.

She dropped her right hand down, her fingertips gliding across the smooth plane of the girl's stomach before they reached the hem of Shizuru's panties. The Kyoto born's arms, which had now wrapped themselves around Natsuki's back, tightened their hold and she released a loud gasp, letting the younger girl know that she was indeed on the right path.

Frustratingly, instead of continuing along that path, Natsuki's hand veered off to the right to stroke along the silky flesh of Shizuru's thigh. The blunette had propped herself up on her left forearm again, her face hovering just above her girlfriend's so she could watch the various different movements there in reaction to her hand.

Crimson eyes were hidden behind tightly closed eyelids and her eyebrows were furrowed in an interesting mixture of frustration and pleasure. Chestnut bangs had started to stick to the girl's forehead as tiny beads of perspiration began to form there and the rest of the girl's hair was splayed out around her. The red tint that Natsuki had been keeping track of had covered almost all of the older girls face now, and the blunette quickly decided that she quite liked how it looked.

Shizuru's mouth hung open, releasing gasping breaths, which turned in to desperate panting as her hand slid around the girl's leg to rub against her inner thigh. She trailed her fingers lightly over the sensitive skin, slowly moving upwards before dropping back down again. She repeated the action a couple of times before shifting her hand and tracing along the hem of the girl's pink panties, following the lace around Shizuru's leg and across her stomach.

Shizuru couldn't decide whether to moan in pleasure or groan in frustration as the light caresses continued. The way Natsuki's fingers constantly changed direction was beginning to drive her insane and she squirmed every time they neared where she really needed them to be. Her centre was throbbing and the ache there was only getting worse with each of Natsuki's gentle touches.

She was sure that her panties would be soaked by now, but she was far beyond feeling embarrassed about it as those bedevilling fingers once again started to stroke her inner thigh. She wondered if the younger girl was purposely teasing her like this or if she was stalling to gather her nerves. Either way, she couldn't wait any longer and released a pathetic whimper before struggling to find her voice,

"Natsuki..._please_" The need Natsuki heard in Shizuru's voice sent a surge of electric straight down to meet the ache between her legs and she released a shaky breath of her own. Not wanting to torture the poor girl anymore than she figured she already had, she gave in to what Shizuru clearly wanted and swiftly moved her hand to cup her centre through her panties.

Shizuru gasped sharply at the contact and her eyes were screwed shut. After a moment, Natsuki traced her lower lips through the damp material. The heat she could feel through the thin material was startling and she idly wondered how hot it would feel without the barrier. She was also shocked by how wet the fabric was, but then she supposed that she really should've expected it.

She couldn't deny that having such an effect on the older girl made her feel powerful.

She applied a little more pressure with her fingers, gently rubbing the sensitive area as Shizuru clung to her, her breathing jagged. She removed her hand and suppressed a chuckle at the frustrated groan she received from the Kyoto born. In way of an apology she placed a light kiss on the older girl's flushed cheek before hooking her fingers into the waistband of her panties.

She didn't make a move to pull them down just yet though. Instead she surveyed Shizuru's face for a moment, making sure that the older girl was alright. It was a useless exercise really, since she was more than sure that Shizuru just wanted her to get on with it. The Kyoto born's eyes remained closed, her eyebrows furrowed and her breathing erratic.

Natsuki placed a light kiss on the girl's lips while her hand started to pull the thin material between her fingers down. Thankfully Shizuru still had enough awareness to lift her hips, assisting her girlfriend in the removal of her last item of clothing.

Now completely naked before her lover, Shizuru forced her eyes open and was greeted by deep emerald. She could see the affection there, even through the intense desire that had darkened the biker's irises, and there was soft smile playing on her lips. She lifted her head slightly and applied pressure to the younger girls back, wanting to capture that smile. Natsuki willingly complied and Shizuru let her head fall back onto the pillow.

Natsuki continued to kiss the older girl while her hand cut a path across Shizuru's stomach, pausing to sift through short curls for a moment. Shizuru's mouth became almost frantic in its movements as she started to lower her hand further and she tried to calm the older girl down by keeping the pace and movements of her own lips slow and steady. But it was a wasted effort, as the second her fingertips met sensitive, moist flesh Shizuru's mouth was ripped from hers to make way for a sharp gasp.

Wasting no more time, Natsuki curled her middle finger inwards, splitting the girl's outer lips and meeting with wet warmth. Shizuru's breathing was harsh and uneven as the younger girl tentatively explored her folds, spreading the wetness around and mapping the skin, enjoying how it felt against her finger.

After a little more light exploration, Natsuki decided that it was probably about time to start building things towards what she hoped would be a pleasurable conclusion for Shizuru. With that in mind, her movements became less sporadic and she slowly trailed her finger upwards while watching the older girls face intently. Her finger passed over a small nub and Shizuru's arms squeezed her tightly, her hips jerking as she cried out,

"Ahh!" She focused her efforts on that spot and watched her love's face contort into an expression that almost resembled pain. She knew better though, and continued to circle and rub the girl's clit gently, occasionally dipping down to revel in wetness before moving back up, delighting in the short, sharp moans that were now almost continuously falling from the older girl's throat.

As she watched the blush on Shizuru's face spread down her neck and onto her chest, she noticed that her own breathing was almost as laboured as the older girls. It felt amazing, being with Shizuru like this, and the knowledge that she was bringing the girl she loved pleasure made it even better.

With how natural it felt to being doing this with Shizuru she had to wonder why she had been worried about it, and also why she had put it off for so long. If she'd known that it would feel so amazing she would have suggested it sooner.

The older girl's grip on her was slowly getting tighter as her hips rocked in time with her movements, no doubt increasing the sensations she was feeling from the ministrations of her finger.

She added her forefinger into the mix, stroking the sensitive flesh and causing Shizuru's moans to increase in both volume and pitch. A thin sheen of perspiration had formed across the older girl's body and Natsuki realised that her own skin was in a similar state. The heat in the room seemed to have skyrocketed and with each of Shizuru's pleasure filled moans it only seemed to increase.

The Kyoto born could hardly hear her own cries over the thundering of her heartbeat in her ears. Her entire body was being assaulted by endless waves of intense pleasure that seemed to grow more powerful with each pass of Natsuki's fingers over her clit.

She could feel her orgasm building quickly in the pit of her stomach and was torn between trying to drag the moment out and just giving herself up to the incessant surges of pleasure. Not that she had much of a choice in the matter as Natsuki's fingers continuously stimulated the bundle of nerves, stoking the flames within her and building the tension towards breaking point.

Soon enough her body was over taken by a series of tremors, the movement of her hips became jerky and she squeezed the girl in her arms almost painfully.

"Ah!... Nnn!...Natsuki!" She tried to let the younger girl know that she was seconds away from exploding into climax, her voice breathy and desperate. Natsuki got the message but instead of continuing her ministrations, she slowed her fingers dramatically, not wanting to end things just yet.

Shizuru barely had time to feel disappointed at the sudden change in pace before she felt the pressure of Natsuki's digits shift, gathering her wetness for a moment before probing deeper. She shuddered when she felt the pressure pause at her entrance. Realising what Natsuki intended, she used the remaining control she had over her body to spread her legs a little further apart.

Natsuki paid close attention to the older girl's face as she slowly slid a single finger inside her, watching for any sign of discomfort. Shizuru gasped and her eyebrows furrowed further, but other than that, there was nothing to suggest that she was in any sort of pain.

She allowed herself a moment to revel in the feel of the searing flesh that surrounded her finger, the heat was unimaginable, like nothing she'd ever experienced before, but she instantly knew that she loved it. When she felt the walls around her finger relax she pulled out slowly, paused for a second, and then slid back inside.

"Natsuki" Her name was a mere whisper as she gradually started to pick up the pace. Shizuru's breathing quickly turned back to panting, and before long she was rocking her hips in time with Natsuki's thrusts.

The younger girl focused on Shizuru's face as her pants turned into moans again, her eyelashes fluttering ever so slightly. She added another finger, the older girl's arousal easing the process. The move was met by a harsh gasp, soon followed by a loud moan.

Shizuru's hips continued bucking up to meet her touch, pulling her fingers deeper with each pass as her moans and gasps began to increase in pitch. She could feel the searing walls beginning to press down on her digits, forcing her to push in with more vigour.

Fascinated by the way Shizuru's face twitched and tensed in response to her movements, Natsuki found that she couldn't look away. She noticed that the older girl's moans seem to intensify when her fingers brushed briefly over a particular spot and used it to her advantage. She curled her fingers up to rub against velvety flesh and Shizuru clung to her with desperation as she cried out,

"Ahh!...Ah!" Natsuki forced her free arm under the older girl's body, holding her tight as she began to tremble. Shizuru could feel her muscles starting to tense, Natsuki's fingers were driving into her at just the right pace to build on each wave of pleasure, pushing her closer to release with each touch. The younger girls palm was slapping against her pubic bone, sending shockwaves through her clit and adding to the almost overpowering sensations.

A buzzing noise in her ears cut off any other sounds and with her eyes closed, she was now two senses down, which only seemed to amplify what she could feel. She lost the ability to control the movements of her hips and she squeezed the girl in her arms with desperate strength as her inner walls started to convulse. Between a stream of frantic moans she managed to find her voice,

"Na-Natsuki!...Natsuki!" As her fingernails cut crescents into the younger girls back she felt hot, erratic breathing close to her ear,

"You're so beautiful Shizuru, I love you" She didn't get the chance to really absorb the words as Natsuki's fingers thrust into her with added force, the final push needed to drive the mounting tension to breaking point. Her back arched, her muscles drawing taught as she clamped down on the digits and pulsed around them.

Her entire body bucked and flailed as waves of undulating pleasure rocked through her. A strangled scream was ripped from her throat, the only outlet she could find to release some of the intense rapture that had stripped her of all control over her body.

Natsuki held her close, fingers gently stroking her quaking walls to slowly bring her down from the unprecedented heights she'd been flung to. Despite her current state, she felt Natsuki's breath against her sternum, followed by light a pressure. Natsuki had just kissed her above her heart. The significance behind the gesture did not pass her by.

She was forgiven. Natsuki loved her.

When some semblance of cognisance returned to her she was immediately overwhelmed by emotion and the tears that had formed during her climax left trails down her face. She buried her head into Natsuki's shoulder, pulling the girl down and into a tight embrace as her muscles continued to spasm periodically in response to the aftershocks of pleasure still bouncing around her body.

She sobbed as Natsuki cradled her protectively, whispering words of affection and comfort into her ear. She hadn't expected her emotions to go haywire like this, but really, she supposed that she should have. She spent a lot of time repressing her true feelings, or at least the intensity of them, and in that moment where she had no control over herself at all, it seemed that they had leaked out.

Her desperate love for Natsuki had driven her to some pretty dark places in the past and her mind had never really accepted that the younger girl would forgive her for her deeds, never mind truly return her feelings. But, Natsuki _had_ forgiven her, Natsuki _did_ love her, and she had more than proved that with her actions.

Natsuki had initially been concerned when she'd realised that Shizuru was crying, worried that she had hurt the girl somehow. When the Kyoto born had pulled her into a fierce embrace though, she realised that Shizuru had just been overwhelmed by a sudden burst of emotion and she quickly tried to console her.

When Shizuru's sobs had mostly stopped she pulled back a bit so she could see the older girl's face. She took in the tear tracks that lined her cheeks, her beautiful, watery, crimson eyes and the magnificent blush that adorned her features. She thought that Shizuru had never looked more stunning.

She lowered her lips to press against Shizuru's in a soft kiss while she carefully removed her fingers from her lover's depths, causing the older girl to whimper slightly as a small bout of tremors shook her body. Shizuru peered up at her when she pulled away,

"Natsuki...that was..." Her voice was shaky, but her tone was soft, her eyes shimmering with the endless amount of affection and love she had for the younger girl. Unable to find a suitable word to describe what Natsuki had just done for her, she settled for a quiet but heartfelt, "Ookini".

The smile that lit up Natsuki's face almost threatened to bring her to tears again and when the younger girl pressed a sweet kiss to her forehead, a few did leak out, spilling down her face and cooling the still hot skin.

Natsuki untangled herself from their embrace, confusing Shizuru for a moment until she felt tugging on the bed sheets below her. The Kyoto born shifted and soon found herself covered by the duvet, it felt nice, but she wanted to cuddle up to her favourite biker...who was standing next to the bed, removing her jeans with a beautiful blush on her face.

At any other time the Kyoto born would probably have teased the blunette about her shyness, especially after what they'd just done...but right now, still experiencing the after effects of the blissful heights Natsuki had taken her to, she could do nothing but smile.

Natsuki soon joined her under the covers and she wasted no time in burying her head into the biker's chest, sighing happily when she felt strong arms wrap around her protectively.

"I love you" She whispered sleepily, the comfort of the younger girl's body in addition to their previous activities catching up to her. A light kiss was placed against her hair,

"I love you too"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>*Returns from hiding under a rock*So...uh...that was my first attempt at writing a lemon, how'd it go? -_-;

It wasn't an easy task to be sure XD Kudos to all the lemon/smut writers out there!

Technically I'm only half way done with it right? Since Natsuki didn't get her turn...or was it Shizuru that didn't get her turn? ;) I have plans for it but I don't know if I'm going to go into so much detail next time, it really depends what your reactions are to this lol

Also, using the word 'panties' made the whole thing sound a bit odd to me since I'm a brit, but 'knickers' sounded even weirder for some reason lol And, you would not believe the amount of times I accidently wrote 'breasts' instead of 'breaths' XD

I re-read some of my first chapters and I've noticed that I seem to have changed how I write a fair bit...or at least it seems that way to me. I feel like I'm making the characters more and more OoC...but let's just call it character development to make it sound better eh? ;)

Anyway, reviews would be lovely so I can see how I did with the whole thing. Concrit is welcome as always :) Till next time (I realised earlier that I didn't say this last time...odd XD),

~IlliterateKoi~


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